A Pop Culture Sleep Over

This week’s assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers was suggested by 3B's Toy Hive.

You have the opportunity to spend the night at any residence in pop culture. Where do you go?

Oh my, so many choices……. I would love to have a sleep over with Dog the Bounty Hunter & Beth.  I can only imagine the stories that did not make the show.  Then the next morning after a hearty breakfast and a family prayer, I could ride along chasing a fugitive. 
 How about Will Wheaton. I would love to sit in on a taping of Geek and Sundry.  Even better would be an overnight with the gang from the Big Bang Theory.  However I have been known to be a “suck up.”  Brian, how open are you to hosting a League sleep over?  That would be cool.

Like many of you, I love most all things alien and space related.  I would love to sneak into to Hanger 51.  Can you imagine all of the unanswered questions you could finally have answers too.  To touch the Ark of the Covenant, or see the Roswell remains……  I want proof, have we have been visited??  I promise I won’t tell anyone.

"Everyday[sic] powerful artifacts are being discovered by people who have no idea what to do with them. Something has to be done."

―Man in suit

On a fun but true note, In April of 2011, my second son and I spent the night on the Great Wall of China in a two man tent.  I spent several hours just sitting in the dark, watching the stars, and trying to imagine what it was like for the Chinese warriors to patrol the wall.

 

Please check out where my fellow League Members want to have an overnight.
VIKKIVERKA
Rediscover the 80's

 

 

Hate is such a strong word, but as a kid what did I hate about pop culture?

This is such a challenging topic to blog on but after much thought I finally found something to write about.  However before I dive in, I have to echo many of my fellow bloggers thoughts about hate.  AGREE, AGREE, AGREE!! We must have all been raised by very thoughtful, strong mothers.  I know without a doubt that my mother’s teachings shaped me into the Social Worker I am proud to be.  I fight the impact of hate every single day as I guide hurt children and families to forgiveness, and healing.

I strongly dislike the hate that many pop culture icons and pastimes have had to endure.  For example Magic the Gathering has faced received criticism from many religious groups because certain cards referred to demonic creatures and symbols.  In 1981, Mazes and Monsters tells a story about a young man who experiences a psychotic episode and loses touch with reality while playing a D&D type role-playing game.  Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons (BADD) was a group founded by Patricia Pulling who felt her son’s suicide was influenced by a curse put on him by playing Dungeon and Dragons.  "Should a Christian Play Dungeons & Dragons?" 2001 and "Straight Talk on Dungeons and Dragons" 1989 were essays written by Bill Schnoebelen (a former Satanic priest) who felt that D & D challenges morality and Christianity.  Finally, who hasn’t had their morality beat down after reading Harry Potter. 

Oh well.  What do I know?  Please check out my fellow League Members blogs;

Diary of a Dorkette

Neato Coolville

Shezcrafti

 

When I was a kid.......

When I was a kid, my favorite activity was riding my bike.  Although I logged hours and hours playing with my GI Joe's, Lego, Cars, and Army Men, my bike were my prize possession.  My first bike was a red Schwinn Stingray with a white banana seat.  If it was nice outside, I was on my bike.  It unlocked my imagination.  

I lived on a dead end street, that had two islands.  When I was riding my bike around the islands I could imagine being in the Indy 500, or was in chase like the classic 1970's movie, the "7Ups."  I decked out my bike by adding a horn, an AM radio, and eventually a basket in the front (yeah I was that kid.)

Then the big day arrived when my parents let me ride my bike to school!  I can remember it like it was yesterday.  Complete freedom with the wind in my face.  By 5th grade, I was allowed to ride my bike to Bruce Smith Drugs where a pocket full of allowance would be spent on Wacky Pack stickers or the latest 45'.  By 6th grade, I was riding my bike to school everyday including days that I had band.  I would just strap my Saxophone in the basket, and off I went.  It was my mean red machine.  A 1972 Red Schwinn Stingray!

Then 1976 rolled in, and my birthday gift was a Columbia Light Blue 10 speed.  Blue Ice!!  It was such a smooth ride.  Within weeks I could ride without my hands.  Using a helmet never crossed my mind.  Then in the Spring of 1978 as I was riding to church to serve mass (every good Catholic boy was an Alter Boy,) I was hit by a women who was turning left and did not see me flying down Mission Road.  As my bike went under her car, I went onto the hood.  As she hit the brakes, I went flying.  Hitting the ground was worse than being hit by the car.  I turned down a ride by the women, and walked my bike to church, served mass, and then got a ride home by my fellow Alter Boy's mom.  My parents were in shock as I explained how I hit a pot hole.  I was so afraid that I would not be allowed to ride my bike, as a neighbor boy was hit by a car and his parents grounded him to his yard for a year. I did not tell my father the truth until I was well out of college.  While my bike was eventually repaired, but the frame was just off enough that I could never ride without my hands again. 

Please check out my fellow League Members memories!!
Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks
Tupa's Treasures
Fortune and Glory (Days)

Guilty Pleasures

"Hi my name is Grey, and I have a guilty pleasure."

"Hi Grey, welcome to Guilty Pleasures Anonymous."

As the board game hobby has exploded over the past dozen years, it has created a gamer know as the "game snob." The game snob looks down on those who play games that are beneath them. Games that are random, games that have dice, games that are collectible, games that don’t come in a box & have "pretty" wooden bits...... Magic the Gathering is one such game. Game snobs don't play MtG or would ever admit to having played it. I love to play Magic the Gathering. Yes that’s correct, I LOVE TO PLAY MAGIC THE GATHERING, and I am proud to say so.

I no longer buy MtG cards nor keep up with the rules, banned cards, restricted cards, general news, and FAQs. I began playing MtG around the end of Unlimited through Fourth Edition. Instead, I have maintained about a dozen decks that I pull out a couple times of year. My decks aren't tournament decks but fun decks such as my white/green flying elephant deck, my 5 color Slivers deck, or my mono green elf deck that includes an Inquest cut out green/red Santa Claus King of the Elves card.

I have some amazing early cards including two sets of the power nine. Maybe I'm just foolish but yes, I play them.

I was always attracted by the storyline, game mechanics, and art. Having met some of the artists has been a real thrill. I love to play Magic the Gathering! I also love grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

Please check out some other guilty pleasures.
Flashlights Are Something to Eat
Pop Rewind
Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks 

RED Part Deuce

I just had to write a second post about seeing Red.  Snoopy and the Red Baron is such a classic duo.  The game was published in 1970.  The box cover claims that it is a skill and action game, but today's gamer terms would call this an action dexterity game.  As the Red Baron fires blue and white marbles, Snoopy must dodge the blue ones while catching the white ones in his dog house. Great Fun!

Have more fun with RED
Dork Horde Snoopy's Pals
Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool  Smokin Hot!!!!!!!!!!
Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks Its near and dear to his heart!

I Play the Color Red

This weeks League assignment has me "seeing red," or in gaming terms "playing red." Are you up for the challenge? Can your inner gamer go strong? Well if you are, how many game tokens can you identify? These tokens represent 40 different games. Some games have more than one token. Trickery indeed!

When you ask most gamers to think of the most influential "red" game.......? There is only one possible answer, Dungeon & Dragons Red Box.  The Red Box was first released in 1981, and then re-released in 2010. 

 

Wizards of the Coast will release Original Dungeons & Dragons RPG, a "Premium Reprint" of the very first D&D releases later this year. The white box was originally released in 1974.

 

 

 

Go check out what other League members are "seeing red."

That Figures ''A Review Retrospective in Red.''

Nemesis Complex Defines the Red Skull
Branded In The 80's  I hope that blood does not make you squeamish!

 

 



 

The Art of Board Games; Something Old & Something New Part 1

As I have blogged in the past, board games are a work of art. This is part 1, in a 10 part series. Each post will feature something old & something new. Parker Brothers first published Innocence Abroad in 1888 and Fantasy Flight published Chaos in the Old World in 2009. Andrew Navaro designed the board. If you look closely, you can see that it laid out on stretched leathered skin. In the game Chaos, you play on of the vile evil gods in the world of Warhammer.

Innocene Abroad may possibly be the first ever licensed product. In 1869 a book titled Innocence Abroad was published by Mark Twain.

The game has a unique mechanism for it's time period, as each player has two tokens, and must make a CHOICE about which piece tomove. One pawn affects how much debt they incur, and the other pawn travels accross the board into bad situations.  The details accross the board were given such great care.  If you can almost imagine boarding that steam boat!!