Tag Archives: game

the chalkboards

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Perhaps you have been wondering about the newest feature on this blog: the chalkboard in the sidebar. It’s my new most favorite thing ever :)

I stole the idea from a new TV show I’m falling for, The Finder. The show is about a man, Walter, who has a rare gift for finding just about anything. When not finding things for people, he runs a bar with his friend and lawyer. In the @EndsofEarthBar, they have a huge chalkboard, and on said chalkboard they always have two words written. “Ninja vs. Samurai” or “Duty vs. Honor,” for example. The characters engage in “philiosophical” discussions/debates about which of the two items would win/should win/etc. And I love love love that idea.

The characters haven’t been focusing as much on the board in recent episodes, but I still think the idea is fantastic. So I’ve decided to do my own. I’m still working on a way to let people vote for one or the other—but until then, enjoy the brain food.

Update: If you want to vote on the chalkboard or comment, you can do so by clicking the chalkboard. You’ll be taken to a page (“vs.”) where I’ll keep the current poll, as well as past results. Votes are anonymous, so all of you shy readers need not be afeered ;)

state of the union: the game

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Tonight is the State of the Union address, broadcast live on various channels at 9PM EST (#SOTU on twitter). I’m sure there are lots of serious ways to approach this hallowed speech, but I gotta admit, I loved John Parkinson’s “10 Things to Watch for in the State of the Union address” on ABC.com.

In case the speech itself isn’t enough fun for you, I thought I’d set out the rules to The State of the Union: The Game. It’s a game my brothers and I played last year. It’s easy, fun, and vegan-friendly.

Each person makes a list of 8 words he or she thinks the President is likely to use in the speech. You can pick phrases or single words, but you can’t pick words like “the” or “or.” Real words, people!

Each person compares their list with the other players’ lists. Similar to Scattegories, if more than one person has chosen a particular word or phrase, neither party gets credit for it. So if two people put “economy” on their list, neither of them get points for it, regardless of how many times Obama uses that word. (Also, if you picked questionable words–like “the” or “and”—the other players can decide you must eliminate those words from your list, and you don’t get to replace them.)

Then you watch the speech. Mark down every time a word or phrase on your list is spoken by the President in the text of the speech. At the end, the most points win. In the case of a tie, winners are determined by thumb wrestling.

This year, my words are:

(oh, wait, I won’t reveal that till later.)

the annual game

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every year (ish) my brothers and i play a game of monopoly; usually, we play during the winter holidays, but last year we didn’t get around to it until january 15 of this year. so this is technically the 2011 game, but since that might confuse people, we decided to call it the 2012 game.

the game is simple: it’s regular monopoly, with $500 in the middle on free parking. as to wheeling-and-dealing property exchanges: any deal that you can convince someone to agree to, goes. really. the only other stipulation is that you can’t conduct deals on your turn—nothing should disrupt the rhythm of play, insofar as that’s possible.

it tends to be a fast-paced, sometimes brutal shin-dig, requiring a whiteboard to keep track of all the deals made. this year was a lot of fun; actually, we agreed that it was one of the better games we’ve had, because one of my brothers had only one piece of property left (waterworks, of all things), but he managed to keep rolling three doubles and landing himself in jail, then landing on free parking on his way out of jail, and then back into jail—before he ever had to pay rent. he didn’t win the whole game, but he outlasted half of us!

some of you have seen this video already (it’s on my facebook), but here ’tis anyway.