Unplugged First Friday

I few weeks ago, I had some friends over to play Shadows Over Camelot. We had 8 people playing and had a rousing good time. Even with 8, the traitor was able to win.
Since I make this a monthly thing, I had another one this past weekend. I only had 5 people coming this time so I let my group decide on another game. The choice was Race for the Galaxy.
Now Race is a great game, but try explaining it to 4 people who aren't regular gamers. I felt like I was teaching Greek. The guys hung in there and finally picked it up, but I learned a valuable lession: DO NOT start game night with a complex game. After Race, we played Formula D, I much less complex game. They all enjoyed it and the game was close. Not sure if they liked it so much because it was easier than race or because the session went well.
Anyway, my further lesson is to start game night was an easy game and then gradually work into more complex stuff.

Next game night, I might start off with Formula D, and then introduce the group to the mother of all collectible card games: Magic the Gathering. Hopefully, I can build some basic 40 card decks and have a tournament with the group.

One comes in, two go out

I'm more of a game collector than a game player. I have more video, card, and board games that I can ever possibly play in a lifetime. For video games, I made a rule: for every new game that comes in my house, 2 games have to go. After a quick flurry of getting rid of old stuff, my rule has had the desired affect: I'm finishing game before I buy new ones. Case in point: Bioshock. After 2 years, I finally finished the game this weekend. While the game had some brilliant style and gameplay, the overall theme I found disturbing. Harvesting little girls for personal power won't win the company any humanitarian awards. It got better at the end and I'm glad it ended happily.
One of the other things that prevented me from finishing Bioshock was the difficulty level. I hate having to repeat a sequence in a game multiple times. I remember the second to last boss in Resident Evil 4 I had to fight 15 times before I beat him. That sucks. So near the end, I switched the difficulty in Bioshock to easy. Sure, I blew through the rest of the game easily, but I was able to enjoy it more from a story standpoint.
Now that I finished Bioshock, I was looking to finish Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW). I liked GRAW 1, but it was so hard (even on normal) that I had to put it down. I think the develops knew that too because I finished GRAW 2 much quicker. I was hoping to go back to GRAW 1 but now I know I may never finish it.
So I turned to Lost Planet. Fighting bugs in the snow was fun so hopefully I can finish it this time.

Is Food the Universal Language?

Since turning 40, I’ve been pondering what I really enjoy in life in the hopes of finding something I really want to do. So I made a top 10:

· Family

· Teaching

· Reading

· Gaming

· Technology

· Socializing

· History

· Wine tasting

· Cooking

· Travelling

Then I asked the question: how can I combine what I enjoy doing into a career? While I don’t have an answer to that yet, I did discover a common thread among all of these items: food. Food can be incorporated into everything I have listed and many more things. Here’s how I connect them:

Family

Fairly obvious here. With a preschooler at home, eating can be a challenge and take awhile, but it’s a big part of the day. When I visit my family, my dad’s famous grilled hamburgers bring the family together along with my mom’s adventurous Mexican recipes. On my wife’s side, Filipino and Chinese food dominates family gatherings.

Teaching

As a teacher, one of my primary goals is teaching read comprehension to my students. It’s not enough the students can orally read aloud; they need to understand what they’ve read. There are two reading comprehension strategies that directly relate to food: sequencing and steps in a process. As we know recipes are the perfect example for both. Teaching students how to create a step-by-step recipe and how to sequence the steps promotes comprehension and writing.

Reading

I’m an avid reader and I always have a paperback handy when I am about to go to sleep. But our house has dozens of cookbooks: ones we’ve bought and ones we’ve created from our family history. Our favorites are the slow cooker recipes and the ones that have wine pairings.

Gaming

I’ll freely admit that I love games: video games, board games, card games, and more. When I have friends over for board game sessions, wings and beer keep us going through the night. There are even food-based video games: most of us old timers remember the arcade game Burger Time. On the Nintendo DS, Cooking Mama uses the system’s stylus and touch screen to make ingredients and cook the food. Even on the iPhone, games like Sky Burger are popular.

Technology

The acceptance of the Internet as a valid medium was only the beginning. We’ve been able to search for recipes for years, but there is so much more. YouTube video demonstrations of cooking and friends sharing food experiences on Facebook and Twitter are everywhere. I’ve even thought of creating a collaborative wiki site for my family to contribute favorite recipes. With mobile technology moving beyond the Internet to location-based applications, programs like GroceryIQ let you create shopping lists of your favorite store and will automatically categorize items by the aisle. Personally, I’ve become a fan of Gowalla, which uses the GPS location on my phone to show me nearby restaurants, food stores, and coffee shops. It even rewards you with passport stamps, pins, and food items for checking in at certain locations. I’m working on the “Visit 10 different coffeeshops” achievement pin. I wonder how long it will be before you are driving near Target and you get a message on your phone with a coupon for 10% off a 12-pack of soda. It’s coming…

Socializing

I’m a very outgoing person who loves talking to most anyone. Talk to anyone long enough, and food will probably come up. No matter what ethnic or political background, food can bridge the gap in conversation.

History

I’ve always asked the question: How did people preserve food before electricity and refrigeration? The answer is salt of course since it absorbs the moisture to prevent spoilage. I tend to read books that are during a pseudo-medieval periods and I pay special attention to what they eat. Mutton and fish over open flames seem to dominate. There are entire volumes devoted to the history and advancement of food.

Wine tasting and Cooking

My wife is going to a wine tasting at a friend’s house and my first question is: what type of food are they serving? Paring food and wine is one of my favorite hobbies. I’ve cooked entire meals based only on a certain type of wine. Cooking and wine tasting appeal to both my geek side (researching and gathering ingredients while following directions) and my creative side (experimenting with different ingredients and food presentation when serving).

Travelling

I believe travelling is the best example of food as a universal language. We have travelled to many cities and countries and I go out of my way to try regional specialties and foods I cannot get at home. I’ve had haggis in Ireland, wine in Germany, pizza in Italy, ale in England, pork in Spain, and horse in Iceland. No matter what the language or country, the food they served spoke of the culture and history in a very profound way.

So is food the universal language? Who knows? But food is pervasive and brings people together like nothing else can. I have enjoyed food in countless ways (as my potbelly will show) and I’m sure I will find many more in the years to come. Maybe along the way I'll figure out how to incorporate it into my job too

Torsson and Whiteclaw

Torsson: Dwarf. Shaman. Outcast

I am not a murderer. My clan will tell you otherwise, but they are wrong.

My name is Torsson and I am a shaman. You heard that right. I grew up in the Stormpeak Mountains where fierce storms and hard living are the norm. My parents were killed when I was very young so the clan raised me as their own, worshipping Moradin and working in the stone mines.

Early one blustery morning, I went foraging for wood in the nearby forest when I saw a ghostly shadow in a small clearing. I moved closer to investigate but the shadow was too elusive. “Greetings, Torsson,” growled a mystical voice behind me. Wheeling around abruptly, I faced an enormous ebony dire bear. “I am called Whiteclaw, and I killed your mother and father.” the beast spoke as I stared horrified at his ghostly shape. “They were foraging for wood together as you are now,” he continued. “I thought they were going to kill me for my prized fur since they had axes in their hands. So I attacked your mother first and felled her with one quick swipe. Your father, enraged, charged at me with his wood axe. We fought for hours, both bloodied and driven by hatred. When I saw he was at the end of his strength, I made one final leap and sunk my teeth into his neck. Little did I realize he had driven the blade of his axe through my chest at the same instant. As we both lay dying, I swore to your father that he had fought valiantly as a true warrior. As his dying wish, he asked that you, Torsson, be raised to protect the natural world and help others. I swore to him that my spirit would fulfill that wish. Your father’s soul rose up to be with Moradin, but mine went to the spirit world, where I met the Great Bear. I told my story to the great spirit, and he allowed me to return to this world in spirit form to protect you and teach you the spiritual ways of the shaman: protect the natural world and protect your allies. And this I swear to do from this day forward.”

For three days, I stayed in the forest with Whiteclaw and he showed me the ways of the spirit world. When I returned to my clan, Whiteclaw stayed behind, telling me to be patient and way for his appearance. I was a changed dwarf after that. My fellow dwarves noticed the change as well, especially the cleric chieftan, Thorne. He counseled me daily on the virtues of Moradin, but to no avail. I was a follower of the spirit word, not the divine. Frustrated at my new calling, Thorne summoned a strong power to try to drive the “evil spirits” from me. I tried to resist, but he was too powerful. As I thrashed in agony, I heard Thorne scream as the side of his head was torn open by foot long claws. Whiteclaw had come for me.

“Go! Leave now and never return! I will find you.”, he boomed. Somehow, I gathered my strength and w ent hurtling down the mountain trail as fast as my short dwarven legs would carry me. At last, I reached the walls of the great city. Exhausted, I tried to lose myself among the narrow streets and filthy crowds. For a time it worked until one day in the courtyard. Three dwarves from my clan spotted me before I had the chance to run. “Murderer!” they yelled as the came at me with long spears. As before, Whiteclaw appeared and hacked the shocked dwarves to pieces. But this time, the city guards witnessed the entire incident. Whiteclaw disappeared, but I did not. The guards grabbed me and threw me in the dungeon prison, where I sit right now.