September 30, 2004
All hail the Lord of Catan
Dammit. People do play board games still. My good friend, Ms. C, introduced me to this highly addictive, terribly competitive game which takes place on hexagons. I like hexagons. It's an abstract looking game where you settle a continent and the first player that makes 10 points wins. You get points by building roads, settlements and cities and you build things by collecting resource cards which you either receive through die rolls or by trading with other people. I like little wooden pieces and bright colors. I love these sorts of games. Better yet, because it gets so competitive, everyone gets sorta mental and starts calling each other names. I know, why would anyone want to play a game where you get mocked? That's because it's fun figuratively bitch-slapping your friends.
So, anyway, I was playing The Settlers of Catan with my friends last night and I got close to winning finally. I'm getting better and, one day, as God is my witness, I will be Lord of Catan and the people will fear me.
This is how dictatorships get started. All hail me, dammit.
Posted by deaconmf at 10:37 AM | Comments (3)
September 28, 2004
Jean Grae with her sidekick Sara vs. the guy in the front row @ Amoeba, 9/26/04
At the best in-store I've seen in awhile, Jean Grae defended her bad-ass-itude. She took awhile to get started, but that's because she got to town about 15 minutes before. She did a couple of tunes of her album, then she opened that little gate they have on the stage at Amoeba to let some fans dance with her on-stage. It was the goofiest thing I'd seen in a long time. Her posse looked like the junior high glee club gone gangsta. Her biggest fan, Sara, brought her gangsta attitude, black hoodie and Eminem hand motions. Unfortunately, Sara's friend, who looked like the only African-American up there had zero rhythm. She couldn't handle 4/4 beat. Poor thing. So after Jean Grae asked us to throw our fists up in the air, she asked the brotha in the front row why he didn't, especially since he was right in front of her. He was waiting for something more kick ass. So she did and she got him to yell "yes you can". Jean's obvious an angry type, but she was aware of what her audience wanted and expected out of her. Charming as hell. Sexy too. Bring on more of the sistahs.
Posted by deaconmf at 01:36 PM | Comments (3)
September 27, 2004
China Mieville: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council
It's been awhile since I read a fantasy novel and now I've read three in less than three weeks. These damned books are about 600 pages each and like any good fantasy writer, he burns up nifty ideas at a prodigious rate. Some of these ideas are disturbing like giant black skeletal moths that devour personalities and shit nightmares. Others are subtly funny like the ambassador of Hell rejecting an offer for a contract. He handles his labyrinthine plots well and his pacing moves everything right along. He has this real distrust of governments that claim to be democratic and this distrust seems enhances the whole atmosphere of dread. His cynicism and dread make him an disturbing read, but certainly worthwhile. His latest one, Iron Council, isn't as good as the other two, but it has an interesting plot twist at the end.
Posted by deaconmf at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2004
Take me out tonight: Franz Ferdinand @ the Fashion Concourse, 9/22/04
Last night, I went to see Franz Ferdinand. (Much thanks to Ms. C.) It was a little disappointing. While it seemed like the band liked what they were doing and knew how to do it, the sound could have been a little cleaner. Also, because I haven't been to a "rock show" in a long time, it seemed like the band was overwhelmed by their lighting. It was some super-high-tech diorama at a museum of the future explaining what rock and roll was like in the 2000s. I wished the lighting guy had projected the savannah behind them and had some gazelles or lions on stage. Still, it was good to see that a lot of people were still rocking out hard. Even 15 year old girls. Watching teenagers screaming "I'm cheating on you" was good for the soul. Maybe it's time to see Beyonce in concert.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:43 AM | Comments (2)
September 22, 2004
Trying this out
Why not I guess? I've got time and the inclination, so I'll start writing about what I know. Hopefully, I won't come across as some waging egomaniac.
Posted by deaconmf at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)