Themes in the Ether

This weekend I spent the weekend in Wimberley, Texas. One of the boardgames someone wanted to play was Goa – a trading game themed on the historically important region of India. But it’s a four-player game and we had five people, so it never got played. Perikles.jpgAnother that was high on the list and did get played was Perikles – by well-know boardgame designer (yes, there are a few), Martin Wallace.

On the return trip I listened to the NPR Puzzle podcast from the previous weekend. Will Shortz had just returned from some sort of puzzle tournament in Goa. The on-air puzzle was categories in C-H-A-M-P, and plays by Shakespeare was one of them. Can you name a P- play by Shakespeare?

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iPod Number 4

I bought another iPod recently. An 8GB iPod Touch. It’s my fourth. Here’s the rundown of the iPods: 20GB 4th Generation Classic iPod Color (model# PA079LL, serial# JQ5263A7TDU) – I lost it at some point several years ago and was so jonesing to have an iPod I bought on eBay a…. 2GB 1st Generation iPod … Read more

The El Orbits on a Monday Night

Between today and the last time I was at the Continental Club, with the El Orbits, and letters and numbers, it’s been a while. I saw quite a few familiar faces last night, some whose names I know, and some I don’t. Virginia O, Pete G, Allen H, Thomas E, Bob S, Lance, Mark & … Read more

Rat Snake on the Gulf Coast

I was cleaning out my overburdened in-box and came across an old email from Kim. A photo of a rat snake they found while doing yard work at her mother-in-law’s place in Palacios, Texas. It’s a quite impressive snake. Palacious is on the Tres Palacios Bay, a small inlet off of the Matagorda Bay, and … Read more

Benedict – A Breakfast Name

Once again the Bush Administration makes me wonder if there is anyone educated in protocol working there. Is it correct etiquette to greet a Pope, or any leader of state or leader of religion, with a 21 gun salute? I bet not. One past slip of the protocol: official announcement of a new Ambassador to … Read more