Friday Five: 9/26

In which I blather about five songs randomly selected from my iPod playlist as I listen to them.

"A Sort of Homecoming" - U2
Another great driving song from Unforgettable Fire.

"The Man's Too Strong" - Dire Straits
The front side of Brothers In Arms got all the attention, but the second side (yes, I still think in LP/cassette terms sometimes) was a really amazing collection of bleak, politically-tinged songs.

"In a Little While" - U2
A world-weary song about a man who has ben on the road too long. I love the laid-back groove.

"I Like to Live the Love" - B.B. King & Bobby Bland
Bobby "Blue" Bland is one of the greatest blues singers you've probably never never heard of. I found this live recording of on a blues compiliation album that was, of all places, in the discount rack of a K-Mart. There's a great segment with audience participation before they 'go to church with it' as B.B. calls it. Overall, a really cool song.

"We'll Be Together" - Sting
For some reason, it amuses me that Sting samples himself ("If You Love Somebody...") during the end of this song.

And Then There Were Four

Since my last Project Runway post, we have lost Blayne, Terri, Joe and Suede. Of those, only Terri was somewhat surprising. I didn't necessarily like all of her looks, but they were almost always very well done from an execution standpoint. As far as the other three, well, you knew it was only a matter of time with those guys. So now we are left with:

• Jerrell: He's really come on strong in the last several challenges (personally I thought he should have won Rock n' Runway; dare I say, he made Kenley look pretty smoking). I'm still worried about his consistency, though. When he misses, he really misses.
• Kenley: I am so ready for her to be gone. She excels in her one aesthetic, and struggles with everything else. The whining on the runway has seriously got to stop, as well.
• Korto: I think she has become, very quietly, the one to beat the season.
• Leanne: I worry she may have peaked a couple of challenges ago. She's done some really amazing pieces, but has come out somewhat flat in others. She seems to be at her best when she has a freer hand to develop the look, so hopefully the last challenge will be more up her alley.

If I were a handicapper, Korto is the only one I would place as a sure bet to make it to the final three. Leanne would get pretty good odds, and I think it will come down to a coin toss between Jerrell and Kenley (my gut is telling me Jerrell will be the odd designer out).

More Cowboys, Fewer Indians

This weekend we played a bit more Gunslinger. I think, given Matt's frustration with how often his shots seem to miss (which they did, although not any more frequently than anyone else's), this will probably be the last time for a while. Anyhow, we managed to get through 3 showdowns.

Showdown #1: Bawdy House Brawl

The situation: A fight breaks out at a house of ill-repute. Given the house's no guns policy, people are only armed with small, concealable weapons.

The characters: The Marshal (Matt), in the downstairs parlor armed only with a knife. The Gambler ("Doc," played by me), in an upstairs bedroom with a Remington double-barrel derringer and a knife. The Quiet Man ("Thornton," played by Jay), who was out behind the woodshed for some reason, with a Colt .32 5-shot sneak gun and a knife.

The action: The marshal began by drawing his knife taking the stairs up to the second floor. Thornton likewise drew his gun and headed upstairs by means of the exterior staircase. Doc, perhaps sensing that everyone was coming for him, drew his knife (with his left hand) and dashed out into the hallway. Thornton reached the top of the stairs and entered the house just in time to take a quick shot at Doc. It missed, and Doc ducked into the upstairs parlor just as the marshal was on the second floor landing. With his quick draw ability, Doc drew his derringer and got off two shots at the marshal, who had started charging him with his knife. The first shot missed, but the second dropped the luckless lawman. Out of ammo, Doc dropped the gun and backed into the adjoining store room. Unfortunately for him, Thornton had bypassed the parlor and burst into store room's other door. Doc whipped his knife at Thornton (which only grazed him) just as Thornton took another quick shot (which missed). Out of weapons, Doc stepped at Thornton as threw a jab at his ribs. The blow hit, but it was only a glancing one. Thornton, in the mean time, had cocked his gun and fired again. This time, at point blank range, the shot was fatal to Doc.

Showdown #2: The Siege

The situation: Old enemies encounter each other outside of town, and a long-range gun battle ensues.

The characters: US Scout (Matt), with a Winchester rifle up on Boot Hill. The Gun Artist (me), also with a Winchester, crouched down behind a rock pile about 40 yards away from Boot Hill. The Marshal (Jay this time), with 2 Colt .45s drawn, behind the hill.

The action: Spooked by the marshal's sudden appearance, the scout scrambled into a more defensible position behind a tree. The marshal, meanwhile, charged up the hill and took position behind a row of tombstones. Left momentarily unattended, GA fired a couple of shots in the scout's direction, but missed them both. The scout came out from around the tree and took a quick shot at the marshal, but missed. The marshal returned the favor, firing with both pistols. One missed, but the other caught the scout in the leg and caused him to collapse. Meanwhile GA had been aiming between the two on the hill, hoping to take down the survivor. His plans were stymied by the Marshal dropping to the ground behind the tombstones. With no visible targets, GA left his cover and advanced toward the hill (a fairly big mistake as it turned out later). After lying on the ground dazed for a while, the scout had managed to re-cock his gun and aim at GA. GA took the time to put another bullet in the scout's other leg (another mistake), which more or less put him down for the count. Meanwhile, the marshal had been scrambling back to the base of the hill where he had left his own Winchester. Once he recovered it, he headed back to the top of the hill. Realizing what was coming, GA started aiming towards the crest of the hill where he expected the marshal to show up. His shot ended up being too quick, though, and he was left out in the open with an uncocked gun. Trying to make himself a moving target, he began to dash towards the hill, his only hope being the marshal would miss and he would again have the advantage. No such luck as the marshal took his time aiming and put GA down with a single shot.

Showdown #3: High-Stakes Poker Game

The situation: in the middle of the saloon, a poker game turns deadly when someone is discovered cheating.

The characters: Doc, the Gambler again (this time played by Matt), with a Colt .44, his Remington derringer and a pair of knives. The Dude (Jay), directly across the table from Doc with a Smith & Wesson .45 and a Smith & Wesson .38 double action. Thornton, the Quiet Man again (this time played by me), sitting on Doc's right with a Colt .44, a Colt .32 and a knife. Was this a prequel to showdown #1, perhaps?

The action: Immediately, everyone was out of their chairs and guns were flying out of holsters. Thornton elected to fanfire at Doc several times, but never hit. Both Doc and the dude were aiming at Thornton ("Why?!" I implored them, "Why me?"), meanwhile. Both fired and missed. After a couple more rounds of static gunfire with no hits, the dude began moving to his left, putting him outside of Thornton's line of vision. With no target other than Doc, Thornton fired the last of the bullets from his .44 but missed. Meanwhile, Doc's well-aimed, point-blank shot at Thornton was ruined by his gun misfiring ("Why?!" Matt implored the heavens, "Why me?"). The dude's next shot caught Thornton in the arm (if the dude had been using his .45 instead of his .38, the wound would have been much more serious). Out of ammo in his main gun and bleeding, Thornton broke for the saloon's front door. He was just quick enough that the dude wasn't able to get another shot off at him. Doc, meanwhile, had taken advantage of the dude being distracted to plug him - the dude ended up sprawled over the bar bleeding profusely. Doc then took a stroll out the back door and around the side of the saloon, stopping to load a couple more rounds in his .44. Hampered by shock and indecision over which gun to go with, Thornton only managed to load one round into his .44 before sticking his head around the corner of the saloon. The dude meanwhile, had managed to stand up, but soon passed out due to his injuries. Outside, Doc took careful aim at Thornton's head but missed; meanwhile, Thornton's aim was thrown off by a twinge of pain. Doc's second shot missed as well, but Thornton got off a shot that took Doc in the leg. Due to Doc's low endurance (the tuberculosis, I guess), he was unable to take any meaningful actions before passing out.

Third Time Not So Charming

The premiere of the third season of Heroes was Monday night, and it was... meh. It could just be a reflection of my general interest level (which was lukewarm, at best), but the show seems like it is starting to tread the same water over and over again. Time travel from dystopian future (that may or may not be the same one we've seen before)? Check. 'Gritty' version of previously naive hero? Check. Re-using the same old characters over and over again until the world becomes a claustrophobic circle-jerk? Check.

I'll probably be giving it a couple of more weeks to see if it picks up at all. Unless something better comes up.

Friday Five: 9/19

In which I blather about five songs randomly selected from my iPod playlist as I listen to them.

"Magic Bus" - The Who
I don't really consider myself a Who fan, but when I was going through their greatest hits album trying to decide which songs I wanted to mp3-ize, there were, like, a lot of them. This one is probably my favorite Who song - I love the funky percussion and acoustic guitar on it.

"Riders on the Storm" - The Doors
I guess this is pretty good for a down-tempo chill-out song, but did it really need to be 7 minutes long?

"Flight of the Bumblebee" - Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin
Insanely cool duet of cello and - whatever it is that you call what Bobby McFerrin does - taken from a Rimsky-Korsakov opera. It's a shame that most people only know McFerrin for "Don't Worry, Be Happy"; he is extraordinarily talented. This is from Hush, a really interesting album from Ma and McFerrin.

"Peace on Earth" - U2
"They're reading names out over the radio/ All the folks the rest of us won't get to know/ Sean and Julia, Gareth, Ann and Breda/ Their lives are bigger than any big idea/ Jesus can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line/ Peace on earth/To tell the ones who hear no sound, whose sons are living in the ground/ Peace on earth/ Jesus and the song you wrote, the words are sticking in my throat/ Peace on earth/ We hear it every Christmastime, but hope and history won't rhyme/ So what's it worth/ This peace on earth."

"Grade 9" - Barenaked Ladies
"Half my friends are crazy and the others are depressed/ None of them can help me study for my math test/ I got into the classroom and my knowledge was gone/ I guess I should have studied instead of watching Wrath of Khan." In case you were wondering if BNL were nerds, the answer is yes. I love the bit at the end where the stadium rock homage, for some reason, morphs into both Rush and the Charlie Brown theme.

You Win Some, You Take Third In Some

Poker night went off well. Better than expected, even, from a mechanical standpoint. We had five players (Matt and Jay from my regular game night, my dad, my brother-in-law Chris, and me). Starting with 5000 in chips, we used the following blind/betting structure:

Rd 1: Hold'em (25/50 blinds)
Rd 2: Omaha (50/100 blinds)
Rd 3: Razz (25 ante, 75 bring-in, 150 to open)
Rd 4: Stud Hi/Lo (50 ante, 100 bring-in, 200 to open)
Rd 5: Hold'em (200/400 blinds)
Rd 6: Omaha (300/600 blinds)
Rd 7: Razz (200 ante, 400 bring-in, 800 to open)
Rd 8: Stud Hi/Lo (200 ante, 500 bring-in, 1000 to open)
Rd 9: Hold'em (1000/2000 blinds)

We played 15 minute rounds, and went straight to round 9 when there were only two players left. In theory, any rounds after 9 would also have been hold'em, with the blinds doubling every round (we never made it that far, though).

Dad and Jay jumped out to early chip lead in the first two rounds before I overtook them with a very good round of razz. There wasn't a lot of movement during stud, except for Chris busting out on the very last hand of the round. Matt had a good round of hold'em, taking most of Jay's chips. I had a couple of very strong hands during Omaha that finished off Jay and severely dented everyone else's stacks. Matt outlasted Dad during razz, but I had a a 4:1 chip advantage going into heads-up. It didn't take long for me to finish him off. The entire tournament lasted a little over two hours.

I had originally planned to do dealer's choice afterwards, but it was decided to play through another HORSE tourney instead. Chris built an early lead in this one, then kept try to bludgeon us with his stack. He was out by round 5, though (preceded by Dad, who just couldn't get anything going in the second game) when the cards dried up but he kept swinging. With the three remaining players roughly even, I made a bad call on Matt's all-in during Omaha and gave him a 2:1 chip advantage over Jay for heads-up. Jay almost evened things out, but couldn't get the cards to fall right and eventually lost. The second tournament also took right around two hours.

I think the changes I made to the structure were successful, on the whole. Keeping the high/low split to Omaha and having a second stud game would have added confusion and made the game feel like it dragged. If I were to do it again (and that's a real possibility, given the general reaction to it), the only thing I might think about changing is to lengthen the rounds to 20 minutes. At 15 minutes, were barely got the dealer button all the way around the table sometimes, especially with the longer (and less familiar) games like razz and stud.

Overall, though, it was a very fun night. Now I just have to figure out how I am going to consume all that leftover beer in the fridge.

Friday Five: 9/12

In which I blather about five songs randomly selected from my iPod playlist as I listen to them.

"Da Da Da" - Trio
If you know this one, it is probably due to it being used in a Volkswagen commercial more years ago than I care to think about. Half of it is in German, so I have no idea what is going on. It sounds cool, though.

"I'll Be That Girl" - Barenaked Ladies
Not a standout song, but I love the Parisian-style accordion on it.

"Mysterious Ways" - U2
Awesome song, awesome video. This was the first song where I figured out that if Bono was singing about a woman, there was at least a 50% chance he was actually talking about god.

"Record Lady" - Lyle Lovett
"She's got the cutest little cartridge that you've ever seen/ She's a phonographic dream." Jazzy number with a Motown-style group of backup singers. In case I haven't mentioned it before, Lyle is outstanding live.

"Lonesome Mood" - John Lee Hooker
A blues classic, by one of the style's masters.

All the Pretty H.O.R.S.E.s

Speaking of the weekend game, it will preempted this time around for poker (ostensibly in honor of my dad's birthday). Instead of the usual hold 'em tournament or dealer's choice, I'm planning on a simplified version of HORSE. In the poker variety of HORSE, you cycle through five different games - hold 'em, Omaha hi/lo, razz, seven-card stud, and seven-card stud eights or better hi/lo. Normally, it is played as a limit game, although at the WSOP it becomes no limit hold 'em at the final table.

In order to simplify it, I am dropping the high/low split from Omaha (one divided pot is enough) and eliminating seven-card stud (too redundant with 7-stud hi/lo also in the mix). I guess technically that would make it a game of HORE, but... not going there. Also, all the games will be no limit since that is what everyone is most familiar with.

I'm excited to see how it goes. Not only is this my first chance to use my new 500- and 1000-denominated chips, but it should be interesting seeing how people adapt to having to change games every 15 minutes. Assuming we don't have a winner by the second round, of course.

Cowboys & Indians

Since it seems that Mike's schedule is blown through mid-October at least, weekly gaming is likely to be heavy on board games for the near future. This week, I dug out an old favorite from the bottom of the closet (and amazingly, all the pieces were there despite the box being destroyed long ago) - Avalon Hill's Gunslinger.

For those not familiar, Gunslinger is a skirmish-level wargame in the classic AH hex-and-counter mold. Players use action cards to plot out what their characters will do over 2 second rounds (with each action having a time cost- drawing and cocking a revolver might take 3 of your 5 segments, whereas dropping to the ground only takes one), then resolve those actions simultaneously. Each character also has a unique set of abilities, either from skill bonuses or additional cards, to differentiate them.

After playing through a few sample rounds to let Matt and Jay get the hang of it, we tackled our first showdown: the classic "Thieves Fall Out." In this one, a group of desperadoes are standing around dividing their loot (represented by a money bag counter) when things go bad. Our variation was that if someone could grab the money and make it off the board, they would win. The outlaws consisted of The Kid (Jay), a quick-draw specialist and master of one-handed guns, Border Rider (Matt), a generalist who had the advantage of being the only one to start with a rifle in both hands, and Gun Artist (me), a good shot with both pistols and rifles but not particularly fast.

The action started immediately, with Border Rider taking a potshot at The Kid as quickly as possible (he missed) and Kid rushing BR. Gun Artist, meanwhile was content to aim between the 2 and see what happened. Kid evaded another BR potshot and continued to sprint, getting behind and out of BR's line of vision. Rather than turn around to face the guy right behind him, BR started opening up at GA across the corral, although his lack of spending any time to aim destroyed his accuracy. GA finally elected to shoot - at Kid - but missed; Kid returned the favor and winged GA in the side, knocking him down and causing some delay (delay points that allow you take fewer actions per round are garnered in the game when you are injured or cross an obstacle). Seemingly unnerved by being right in the middle of a gunfire exchange, BR began a dash for the money bags. GA, unwilling to take the time to get up, got a couple of shots off from the ground at BR as he grabbed the money and ran for the edge of the board; all the shots missed, however. Kid, meanwhile, chased him down and finally shot when BR was within two hexes of exiting the board. Bulls eye - adios, Border Rider. This left Kid a couple of steps from the loot and near the board's edge, while GA was still down across the corral. Knowing he'd have only have time for one good shot, GA built up as much aim as possible before squeezing off a shot just as Kid was picking up the money. Another bulls eye, and that was the game.

We had time for one more brief showdown after that. In this one, a lone prospector (Mountain Man, played by Matt) comes a across a couple of Sioux warriors (Axe and Hawk, played by me and Jay) around their camp fire. Axe and Hawk split up to charge MM, who was crouching behind a rock pile, from two different directions. Since Hawk's path would take him through a gully that hid him from view, MM focused his attention of Axe, who was charging him across open ground. Unfortunately for MM, he only had a single shot rifle which limited him to getting off 2 shots before Axe was on him (both missed, the first because of the darkness making the effective ranges longer and the second because Axe was running). Axe, meanwhile was having problems of his own as both barrels of his shotgun went off during his mad dash (delay points can also cause things like falls and misfiring guns) and he had no ready weapons when he finally reached MM. Just as Hawk was coming out of the gully and getting in position, MM drew his Colt .45 and took a quick shot at Axe from close range, again missing because of the darkness. Simultaneously, Axe had unlimbered his tomahawk and brought it downwards, striking MM a solid blow to the vitals and killing him.

Overall, I think everyone had fun with the game, even if they were just learning the nuances of the game (and I, having not played it in over a decade probably not being much better). We'll see how mush of that was just politeness when I see if they want to play again, though.

Friday Five: 9/5

In which I blather about five songs randomly selected from my iPod playlist as I listen to them.

"King of Pain" - The Police
This one always seemed to me to be assembled from entries in Sting's Notebook of Vaguely Unsettling Imagery that he couldn't figure out how to work into another song. It's enjoyable mainly for Andy Summers' guitar work, I think.

"Who Will Save Your Soul" - Jewel
On one of VH1's countless "Top Whatever Videos of the Whenever" shows, Jewel made fun of herself for thinking she sounded like Kermit the Frog on this song. It was rather awesome.

"Sweet Caroline" - U2
Another concert bootleg. Before turning the mike over to the crowd, Bono asks: "This is your chance, Edmonton - are you ready to sing the Diamond?" I don't know why that strikes me as so funny.

"Bad" - U2
"If you should ask, then maybe they'd/ Tell you what I would say/ True colors fly in blue and black/ Blue silken sky and burning flag/ Colors clash, collide in bloodshot eyes." An extremely powerful song about being powerless to help.

"Stories for Boys" - U2
Man, looking at this list a person might start think I'm a U2 fan or something. This one goes all the back to Boy; every time I listen to that album I'm always re-amazed that this was a debut effort put out by a bunch of kids that were so bad at playing covers they had to start writing their own songs. Phenomenal album.

Watch List: 9/3

Now that the Olympics and the Democratic convention are over, the Netflix queue is in motion again. We finally finished season 2 of Veronica Mars, and while I enjoy the hell out of the crisp dialogue and superb acting from the leads, the big seasonal-arc story again felt way too condensed into the last couple of episodes. So, a good show but not without flaws.

Alongside more Muppet Shows, season 1 of Ugly Betty has showed up at our house. For some reason. I guess I'll give it a shot, but I'm more excited for the latest seasons of House, The Office and 30 Rock a bit farther down the queue.

In live viewing, it's about halfway through season 5 of Project Runway. So far, there haven't really been any eliminations I thought were unwarranted (maybe Jerry in the first episode, but we saw so little of him it was hard to tell). My thoughts on the remaining designers:

• Blayne: He is still somehow managing to be somewhat entertaining and vapidly frustrating at the same time. I don't think he'll be around for much longer.
• Jerell: I like him, but he's been a bit inconsistent. I'd like to see him go far, but I don't know that he will.
• Joe: Meh. Will be gone soon.
• Kenley: She's turned out to be pretty annoying. She seems like she has enough chops to get to the finals, though.
• Korto: I don't know that I really have her figured out. Some of her looks have been exceptional, though, so I wouldn't be surprised to see her go far.
• Leanne: I'm really starting to like her, but again she's been hit-and-miss. Just as likely to be in the finals as go home next episode.
• Stella: Her shtick is about up. But aside from that, her old man (and you just know that's what she calls him) is named "Ratbones." That's gold.
• Suede: As my wife pointed out, he's made the same dress for every challenge. I think he's close to being done. Also, one more blown kiss to a dead relative and he ends up on my Giant List Of People Who Need To Be Punched In The Face.
• Terri: She has some crazy sewing skills, but I haven't been in love with most of what she's done. And she seems kind of bitchy. Surest shot for the finals, though.