Yeah, it's been a couple months since the last HDHH. I know, I know. Here's a tune that I've become kind of fixated with recently by the Heartless Bastards. I have something of a weakness for badass steel guitar, which "The Mountain" has and then some. I also have a documented weakness for ladies that play guitar, which this band also has in Erika Wennerstrom. Throw in some 90 Shilling and you just might have the perfect trap to catch me.
Take it on down the line,
Regis
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wyoming State Championship/Walter Cronkite Memorial Tournament Report
>Note: it’s been almost a week since the tournament, and I didn’t take notes so details are gonna be sketchy and possibly of questionable accuracy.
In the weeks prior to our epic trip south, Jon and I tried out a number of decks – mostly originals, but were ripoffs (of varying degrees) of netdecks. For dark, I was pretty happy with a Bring Him Before Me starting Look Sir, Droids (v) and rocking Emperor’s Power (non-v) for extra battle destiny fun (although this was counter-productive almost as often as it helped, since the deck had a tendency to lose a high destiny to add a low one). For light, I was originally planning on playing We’ll Handle This (v), but changed my mind about a week prior to departure for a Yavin 4: Jedi Academy Careful Planning start reactive mains deck that (ideally) gets Luke Rebel Scout (v) out fast with his lightsaber and Lightsaber Proficiency for an early drain of 4. Both decks were rooted in ripped off ideas, but had plenty of Regisisms.
We had a total of ten people for the tournament – a step up from last year, as Dillon and Roman bailing after Game 2 to play DnD left us with an effective eight players. I dropped the ball on ordering prize support and it didn’t make it in time, but everyone is cool with divvying it up at Tatooine Regionals next month (as pretty much everyone plans to be there).
Game 1: Light vs Hunter’s Coruscant CR Dueling
Looks like I’m starting off with a loss – joy. I think I held off on getting Luke out to see if he’d put Vader elsewhere, but don’t hold me to that. About the only thing that went my way was an early (maybe second turn?) Tantive and some backup to his SE Coruscant. I’m pretty sure he didn’t duel once all game, I think we had a couple battles (Lord Sidious retrieved two when Luke got smacked down, I remember that), and his ground drains outpace what damage I’m doing. FL -22.
Game 2: Dark vs Hunter’s IITFYS Wookiees
Lucky me, the results of the first game were lousy enough that I got to face Hunter again. Don’t get me wrong – Hunter’s a hell of a nice guy to play against, and no game is a 100% certain loss, but he just plays so damn solidly and it’s safe to say I’m kind of scrubbish. Anyway, he gets some direct damage pinging going with Yarua (v) and a Wookiee (v) at the Sacred Forest and protects them with Nudjes at his sites. I draw into J’Quille (v) (a card that I almost always pack) and send him down with Vader to beat some Wookiees down. I do so, take out a Nudj, and the other Nudj moves over so Vader isn’t at a battleground for another turn. Shortly after I deal with Nudj Number 2, Luke pops down and gets captured, so I flip and start losing to my objective. I think we had a quick battle in space but I wind up letting him have it, and he wins the damage race. FL -13; I’m now at 0 (-35).
Game 3: Light vs Matt’s ISB Scum
I’m less than jazzed with this matchup too – he played a similar deck (I don’t remember seeing any AT-STs this time) back in April when he rolled the living snot out of my Back Beat RTP. However, this deck has some answers for him. It’s a bit of cat and mouse at first; I set up a lone Dodonna at the Y4 Jungle next to my Luke (with his saber, Proficiency, and a Bionic Hand (v)) and he takes the bait with an Outer Rim Scout and a walker or somesuch. I play Run Luke, Run! and dish out some pain. Yoda MOFO gets captured on Tatooine by Crazy Fett but after a couple of minor mistakes I don’t remember, he draws one too many and can’t pay maintenance so Fett gets ditched and Yoda breaks free. He doesn’t flip the whole game and I drain him out pretty quick for my one win of the day by 20. 2 (-15). Since we still have half an hour, we start a rematch but don’t finish; it’s looking pretty even when we give up for the next round.
Game 4: Dark vs Matt’s TRM
And thus Matt gets his revenge. An early Corran-led beat squad takes out The Emperor (v) who totally forgot to use his built-in zapping action and bites the dust. I try to take Corran out with Janus, but draw too low so they both just sit at the Throne Room looking at each other until Corran’s backup arrives to beat the holy hell out of my poor little Janus. Knowing that the deck has a tendency to leave crappy destinies on top, I cross my fingers and play Elis, hoping for a one ‘cuz that’s all I’ve got in my Force pile – and meet success! Janus runs away and gets beat down the next turn when Matt plays Nabrun. He’s activating about fifty force a turn or something and I kick myself for not playing Wipe Them Out, All Of Them (v). That’s pretty much all she wrote, FL -26. Now sitting at 2 (-41).
Game 5: Light vs Jerry’s Walkers
I’d joked about playing Under Attack in my light deck for Jerry (since I blew him out with it at Colorado States last year), but I didn’t. Not that it would have made much difference. He gets non-v Decree going so my big drain gets neutered from 4 to 1 (he has Vader on a walker) and blows the MPG without much trouble. I get some guys on Hoth and we rumble a bit, but I’m not smart enough to get Ultimatum satisfied so his direct damage and Garrison drains wipe me out with little trouble. FL -23; now at 2 (-64).
Game 6: Dark vs Jason’s MWYHL Asteroids
I cross my fingers that he’ll train Luke, but he’s not that dumb and trains DOS instead. I have a brief moment of hope: early draws of Zuckuss in Mist Hunter, Bossk In Bus, Vader (v), his saber, and Crazy Fett. I deploy ‘em to Kessel (maybe Kashyyyk) and move to Dagobah, where Corran in Red Squad 7 with X-wing Cannons is waiting. He shoots ZiMH (where my dudes are) into the lost pile, thus canceling my planned invasion of Dagobah. I try to battle him in space, but he keeps Barriering my Star Destroyers. His drains and Asteroid damage outpace what little damage I’m able to do (but I manage to win a battle, so go me). Oh, and Reegesk (v) steals Obi-Wan In Radiant VIII, but it just gets pitched to a drain. At the end of the game, he reveals an EPP Luke was in his hand the whole game (I knew it was there). FL -19, final score is 2 (-83).
So at the end of the day, I’m sitting in ninth
out of ten with Jon pulling up the rear. I jump the gun and put Thomas’ name on the certificate I had Jon make for the winner before he plays the final confrontation, but he winds up winning so I don’t have to give Hunter a certificate with Tom’s name crossed out. Thanks for taking pictures, Jerry!
The next day in Denver (or Aurora, whatever), I play a silly AITC with Chadra-Fans trained by Sai’tor and packing Disruptor Pistols and Sebulba (v) dueling. I lend Jerry my White Trash (he plays it as is) and my Rancourt deck from Wyoming States last year, which he proceeds to RUIN by removing bounty hunters and adding more creatures.
Game 1: Light vs Matt’s ISB Scum
Matt’s playing the same deck as yesterday. I manage to thwart an attempted beatdown on Lando With Vibro-Axe and a Chadra-Fan when Lando excludes P-59 and a lone Fett doesn’t get any battle destiny. P-59 runs away, his deck does some heavy damage to me, and I manage to win a second battle with the same Lando and Chadra-Fan (who now has a Disruptor Pistol) against three Outer Rim Scouts (I pat myself on the back for playing Yavin Sentry shield) – Lando excludes one, the Chadra-Fan zaps one to the Lost Pile, and I draw three battle destiny against the last one. Alas, it isn’t enough and he wins by 19.
Game 2: Dark vs Mark’s EBOX
Here’s my epic John Kerry moment of the weekend, where I snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I get my Sense combo early and Uncertain About The Future him before he gets EBO set up. I had Darth Vader and The Emperor’s Prize (v) in hand, which I wind up drawing back. I don’t really derail him too bad (I should have waited until he’d pulled EBO into hand and THEN done it). After he puts out Luke on his Rogue 1 I play Vader and Prize to the Carbonite Chamber, so he’s taking some pings the rest of the game. I get J’Quille (v) in my hand, but can’t send a good beat squad until after he plays EBO. J’Quille, Lord Sidious, and Myn Kynaugh (v) come down to beat on a lone Romas. Here’s the problem – Myn’s Force Pike is NOT under my Starting Effect where it’s supposed to be (I had 12 shields instead – curse my lack of playtesting this deck!). As such, Romas doesn’t get hit and have his power reduced to zero so Mark ONLY has to peel 19 (he forgot to re-borrow my Houjix combos for the deck). So I’m feeling pretty good, but I’m not smart enough to get Resistance satisfied to cap his drains. Winning the podrace (yeah, this deck podraces, hence the Sebulba) helps a bit, but he winds up beating me by ONE. As in, the ONE card he would have had to lose if my Force Pike had been where it was supposed to be. It’s frustrating, but it was still a fun game.
Game 3: BYE
I run across the street because there’s a gyro place, but it’s closed on Sundays so I settle for 7-11 taquitos.
Game 4: Light vs Mark’s Vane Mains
This game was a trainwreck for me, nothing worked at all. I couldn’t get Kabe out, and when I did she just got zapped by the Gemmeperor, a fate also me by Artoo with A Gift. I’m not begrudging Mark on an impressive deck build, but playing against the damn thing is no gorram fun at all. He plays Broken Concentration so I can’t draw up while he SLOWLY puts his hand back (until I’m smart enough to grab Look Sir, Droids (v)) and keeps Projective Telepathy-ing my attempts to initate battle and counterbeating the snot out of me. I don’t remember how much he won by, but it was a lot. Mark’s a good guy, but I still kind of want to punch him in the face, not gonna lie.
So for Sunday, my only win was the bye – disappointing (especially after my lousy showing the day before), but I was playing fun decks so it wasn’t a huge surprise. I come in last (seventh of seven), Jon's in sixth, and Jerry's in fifth (I think he would have done better if he hadn't RUINED my dark deck, but maybe that's just me). Matt is a super cool dude and gives out a rare of our choice (assuming he as a spare of it) from his personal collection for prizes – thanks again, Matt! Also, thanks to everyone that turned out for the events, and to everyone I had the pleasure of playing against. You’re all gentlemen, even if Mark does play that evil Vane Mains deck. And finally, a super big thanks to the guys at Slackerz inLaramie Aurora
Cheers,
Regis
In the weeks prior to our epic trip south, Jon and I tried out a number of decks – mostly originals, but were ripoffs (of varying degrees) of netdecks. For dark, I was pretty happy with a Bring Him Before Me starting Look Sir, Droids (v) and rocking Emperor’s Power (non-v) for extra battle destiny fun (although this was counter-productive almost as often as it helped, since the deck had a tendency to lose a high destiny to add a low one). For light, I was originally planning on playing We’ll Handle This (v), but changed my mind about a week prior to departure for a Yavin 4: Jedi Academy Careful Planning start reactive mains deck that (ideally) gets Luke Rebel Scout (v) out fast with his lightsaber and Lightsaber Proficiency for an early drain of 4. Both decks were rooted in ripped off ideas, but had plenty of Regisisms.
We had a total of ten people for the tournament – a step up from last year, as Dillon and Roman bailing after Game 2 to play DnD left us with an effective eight players. I dropped the ball on ordering prize support and it didn’t make it in time, but everyone is cool with divvying it up at Tatooine Regionals next month (as pretty much everyone plans to be there).
Game 1: Light vs Hunter’s Coruscant CR Dueling
Looks like I’m starting off with a loss – joy. I think I held off on getting Luke out to see if he’d put Vader elsewhere, but don’t hold me to that. About the only thing that went my way was an early (maybe second turn?) Tantive and some backup to his SE Coruscant. I’m pretty sure he didn’t duel once all game, I think we had a couple battles (Lord Sidious retrieved two when Luke got smacked down, I remember that), and his ground drains outpace what damage I’m doing. FL -22.
Game 2: Dark vs Hunter’s IITFYS Wookiees
Lucky me, the results of the first game were lousy enough that I got to face Hunter again. Don’t get me wrong – Hunter’s a hell of a nice guy to play against, and no game is a 100% certain loss, but he just plays so damn solidly and it’s safe to say I’m kind of scrubbish. Anyway, he gets some direct damage pinging going with Yarua (v) and a Wookiee (v) at the Sacred Forest and protects them with Nudjes at his sites. I draw into J’Quille (v) (a card that I almost always pack) and send him down with Vader to beat some Wookiees down. I do so, take out a Nudj, and the other Nudj moves over so Vader isn’t at a battleground for another turn. Shortly after I deal with Nudj Number 2, Luke pops down and gets captured, so I flip and start losing to my objective. I think we had a quick battle in space but I wind up letting him have it, and he wins the damage race. FL -13; I’m now at 0 (-35).
Game 3: Light vs Matt’s ISB Scum
I’m less than jazzed with this matchup too – he played a similar deck (I don’t remember seeing any AT-STs this time) back in April when he rolled the living snot out of my Back Beat RTP. However, this deck has some answers for him. It’s a bit of cat and mouse at first; I set up a lone Dodonna at the Y4 Jungle next to my Luke (with his saber, Proficiency, and a Bionic Hand (v)) and he takes the bait with an Outer Rim Scout and a walker or somesuch. I play Run Luke, Run! and dish out some pain. Yoda MOFO gets captured on Tatooine by Crazy Fett but after a couple of minor mistakes I don’t remember, he draws one too many and can’t pay maintenance so Fett gets ditched and Yoda breaks free. He doesn’t flip the whole game and I drain him out pretty quick for my one win of the day by 20. 2 (-15). Since we still have half an hour, we start a rematch but don’t finish; it’s looking pretty even when we give up for the next round.
Game 4: Dark vs Matt’s TRM
And thus Matt gets his revenge. An early Corran-led beat squad takes out The Emperor (v) who totally forgot to use his built-in zapping action and bites the dust. I try to take Corran out with Janus, but draw too low so they both just sit at the Throne Room looking at each other until Corran’s backup arrives to beat the holy hell out of my poor little Janus. Knowing that the deck has a tendency to leave crappy destinies on top, I cross my fingers and play Elis, hoping for a one ‘cuz that’s all I’ve got in my Force pile – and meet success! Janus runs away and gets beat down the next turn when Matt plays Nabrun. He’s activating about fifty force a turn or something and I kick myself for not playing Wipe Them Out, All Of Them (v). That’s pretty much all she wrote, FL -26. Now sitting at 2 (-41).
Game 5: Light vs Jerry’s Walkers
I’d joked about playing Under Attack in my light deck for Jerry (since I blew him out with it at Colorado States last year), but I didn’t. Not that it would have made much difference. He gets non-v Decree going so my big drain gets neutered from 4 to 1 (he has Vader on a walker) and blows the MPG without much trouble. I get some guys on Hoth and we rumble a bit, but I’m not smart enough to get Ultimatum satisfied so his direct damage and Garrison drains wipe me out with little trouble. FL -23; now at 2 (-64).
Game 6: Dark vs Jason’s MWYHL Asteroids
I cross my fingers that he’ll train Luke, but he’s not that dumb and trains DOS instead. I have a brief moment of hope: early draws of Zuckuss in Mist Hunter, Bossk In Bus, Vader (v), his saber, and Crazy Fett. I deploy ‘em to Kessel (maybe Kashyyyk) and move to Dagobah, where Corran in Red Squad 7 with X-wing Cannons is waiting. He shoots ZiMH (where my dudes are) into the lost pile, thus canceling my planned invasion of Dagobah. I try to battle him in space, but he keeps Barriering my Star Destroyers. His drains and Asteroid damage outpace what little damage I’m able to do (but I manage to win a battle, so go me). Oh, and Reegesk (v) steals Obi-Wan In Radiant VIII, but it just gets pitched to a drain. At the end of the game, he reveals an EPP Luke was in his hand the whole game (I knew it was there). FL -19, final score is 2 (-83).
So at the end of the day, I’m sitting in ninth
out of ten with Jon pulling up the rear. I jump the gun and put Thomas’ name on the certificate I had Jon make for the winner before he plays the final confrontation, but he winds up winning so I don’t have to give Hunter a certificate with Tom’s name crossed out. Thanks for taking pictures, Jerry!The next day in Denver (or Aurora, whatever), I play a silly AITC with Chadra-Fans trained by Sai’tor and packing Disruptor Pistols and Sebulba (v) dueling. I lend Jerry my White Trash (he plays it as is) and my Rancourt deck from Wyoming States last year, which he proceeds to RUIN by removing bounty hunters and adding more creatures.
Game 1: Light vs Matt’s ISB Scum
Matt’s playing the same deck as yesterday. I manage to thwart an attempted beatdown on Lando With Vibro-Axe and a Chadra-Fan when Lando excludes P-59 and a lone Fett doesn’t get any battle destiny. P-59 runs away, his deck does some heavy damage to me, and I manage to win a second battle with the same Lando and Chadra-Fan (who now has a Disruptor Pistol) against three Outer Rim Scouts (I pat myself on the back for playing Yavin Sentry shield) – Lando excludes one, the Chadra-Fan zaps one to the Lost Pile, and I draw three battle destiny against the last one. Alas, it isn’t enough and he wins by 19.
Game 2: Dark vs Mark’s EBOX
Here’s my epic John Kerry moment of the weekend, where I snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I get my Sense combo early and Uncertain About The Future him before he gets EBO set up. I had Darth Vader and The Emperor’s Prize (v) in hand, which I wind up drawing back. I don’t really derail him too bad (I should have waited until he’d pulled EBO into hand and THEN done it). After he puts out Luke on his Rogue 1 I play Vader and Prize to the Carbonite Chamber, so he’s taking some pings the rest of the game. I get J’Quille (v) in my hand, but can’t send a good beat squad until after he plays EBO. J’Quille, Lord Sidious, and Myn Kynaugh (v) come down to beat on a lone Romas. Here’s the problem – Myn’s Force Pike is NOT under my Starting Effect where it’s supposed to be (I had 12 shields instead – curse my lack of playtesting this deck!). As such, Romas doesn’t get hit and have his power reduced to zero so Mark ONLY has to peel 19 (he forgot to re-borrow my Houjix combos for the deck). So I’m feeling pretty good, but I’m not smart enough to get Resistance satisfied to cap his drains. Winning the podrace (yeah, this deck podraces, hence the Sebulba) helps a bit, but he winds up beating me by ONE. As in, the ONE card he would have had to lose if my Force Pike had been where it was supposed to be. It’s frustrating, but it was still a fun game.
Game 3: BYE
I run across the street because there’s a gyro place, but it’s closed on Sundays so I settle for 7-11 taquitos.
Game 4: Light vs Mark’s Vane Mains
This game was a trainwreck for me, nothing worked at all. I couldn’t get Kabe out, and when I did she just got zapped by the Gemmeperor, a fate also me by Artoo with A Gift. I’m not begrudging Mark on an impressive deck build, but playing against the damn thing is no gorram fun at all. He plays Broken Concentration so I can’t draw up while he SLOWLY puts his hand back (until I’m smart enough to grab Look Sir, Droids (v)) and keeps Projective Telepathy-ing my attempts to initate battle and counterbeating the snot out of me. I don’t remember how much he won by, but it was a lot. Mark’s a good guy, but I still kind of want to punch him in the face, not gonna lie.
So for Sunday, my only win was the bye – disappointing (especially after my lousy showing the day before), but I was playing fun decks so it wasn’t a huge surprise. I come in last (seventh of seven), Jon's in sixth, and Jerry's in fifth (I think he would have done better if he hadn't RUINED my dark deck, but maybe that's just me). Matt is a super cool dude and gives out a rare of our choice (assuming he as a spare of it) from his personal collection for prizes – thanks again, Matt! Also, thanks to everyone that turned out for the events, and to everyone I had the pleasure of playing against. You’re all gentlemen, even if Mark does play that evil Vane Mains deck. And finally, a super big thanks to the guys at Slackerz in
Cheers,
Regis
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A Derogatory Name for People From Wyoming: A Travelogue
As promised, here's a recap of the trip Jon and I made south this weekend. Tournament reports will be posted separately.
We had planned to leave around 11 on Friday, but someone (that would be me) was running a little behind getting his ducks in a row, and someone else (that would be Jon) was running even later. This would prove to be something of a constant theme for the weekend. Apparently the world runs on Regis Standard Time. The drive down to Laramie is about what you'd expect, except slightly greener (gotta love the wet spring and mild-ish summer we've had), with lots of Electric Six. I can't travel to a tournament with Jon without being stopped on the highway by either a wildfire or road construction, and work on 287 steps up to the plate. We roll into Laramie, drop off Meg's bike and the last of her stuff from my shed and I get my half-read copy of Theodore Rex back. Everything's coming up Milhouse until we stop by Slackerz, the location of Saturday's Walter Cronkite Memorial Wyoming State SWCCG Championship, and learn that prize support hasn't arrived yet (I kind of dropped the ball on ordering it and it was supposed to go to the store). We cross our fingers for tomorrow and boogie down to Flock Hall.
As Jon and I walk up to the door, we hear someone inside comment, "This is how porno movies start," which almost makes me get back in the car (the male-female ratio at the time being a bit unbalanced for that sort of thing in my opinion). They tell me the correct operation of their door is hard for some people, but I pass the Dex check without much trouble. We have a two and a half hour conversation about Transformers before Linus has to get some writing done and Jon and I decide that maybe we should eat dinner, it being nine or so. The Black Pope recommends the muffaletta at McAllister's, which is maybe the most beautiful sandwich I've had the pleasure of consuming. By the Virgin Moose, it's like eating a piece of heaven. Jon and I get back to Linus' and I try out my "fun" decks for the Sunday local in Denver and get ROLLED. The Wii gets fired up and I wax Shinze at Mario Kart (extra awesome, never having played it on the Wii before). We finally decide that 2 am might be a good time to call it a night and get some shuteye. Linus is awesome enough to get up and make some tofu scramble - which was pretty damn awesome - for breakfast. After a quick stop at Kinko's to copy some command cards, it's time for some Star Wars CCG.
No surprise, Team Wyoming gets blown out by pretty much everyone from Colorado, but we had fun so it's all good. Thomas McGee wins the coveted winner's certificate (which I wrote his name on too soon; had Brian Hunter won the final confrontation I would have just crossed Tom's name out and written Hunter's above it). Prize support is a no-show, but everybody's cool with dealing it out at Tatooine Regionals next month. I get some new sleeves (red and gold) and head down to Fort Collins with Jerry, who is nice enough to let us stay with him the next two nights.
There's a barbecue at Tom's, and Jerry plays Nien Numb to my Lando and navigates us across Fort Collins. Jon and I hit the liquor store for some PBR while Tom and Jerry make an undoubtedly madcap run to Safeway for burgers and dogs. The cute cashier at Pringle's cards me, but I'm pretty sure she just wanted my name. After some tasty grilling (high five, Tom!) and hanging with the gang, we head back to Jerry's place and meet his girlfriend Diana, who lives up to Jerry's description of pretty cool. We talk about decks for Sunday a bit and call it a night.
Jerry is so awesome he makes pancakes and bacon for breakfast. His position relative to the ball deck-wise is par for the weekend's course, so I lend him a White Trash deck (that I opted not to play the day before, probably a bad call but whatever) that he played as is and a bounty hunting, feed the rancor-ing My Kind of Scum that he modified (I say RUINED) by removing the bounty hunters and adding more creatures. Tom can't make the tournament as his dog is under the weather, so we stop to pick up Mark (who I have to say always looks sharp) at a parking lot in Windsor. He and Jerry make some special modifications in the back seat while navigating and, after a Blizzard 4 winds up under Jerry's ass, complaining that I take turns too fast. I enlighten them on the concept of the "Greenie," which I describe as a derogatory term for Coloradoans based on the color of the old Colorado license plates. Mark informs me that Coloradoans have a derogatory term for people from Wyoming, too: "from Wyoming." My sensitivity takes that in the teeth.
We find Attactix easily enough and chill for a bit while we wait to start. We wind up with seven people and make some magic happen. I get a bye the third game and make a run across the street to the gyro place I spotted earlier, but they're closed on Sundays so I settle for taquitos from the 7-11 next to the gaming store. Much like the previous day, Team Wyoming comes in at the bottom of the barrel but we're smiling because of a couple of moral victories and tech plays of the day (like Jon's Juri Juices for the actual win). Matt is a cool guy and gives everyone a rare from his collection for prizes. I buy Settlers of Catan and a card game called Fluxx; Jon snags a card game called Bohnanza because it's about farming beans and feautres violence on the box. We head north, have some strange conversations and learn that Mark likes Sarah Palin ("As a politician, or as a centerfold?" I ask incredulously, but to each his own). We get Mark back to his car and continue on to Jerry's pad, where we pick up Diana and hit Old Chicago for dinner - 90 Shilling FTW. Back at Jerry's place, we bust out Fluxx and Jon literally hands me two games. Jerry wins one after we learn to read the entire card and joke about how Jon has a 67% chance of getting death or a radioactive potato. We then try out Bohnanza and I totally stab Jon in the back on the last turn, pretty much stealing his Chili Beans. Alas, it doesn't affect the final standings (Jerry wins by one coin), but the look of utter betrayal on Jon's face is priceless and we laugh for about fifteen solid minutes. At this point it's time for bed, so we call it a night.
I want to stop at Men's Wearhouse before we hit the highway as I have an outdoor wedding to attend on Saturday and wanted a lighter jacket that what I have in my closet, so we do that. They're a little shorthanded, but I get a jacket, slacks, shoes, and tie picked out and find out it'll be a couple hours before they can hem my slacks and adjust the jacket sleeves. Jon and I opt to kill some time at the mall. We take the extra scenic route to the food court; I satisfy my unsatisfied craving from yesterday with a gyro and he gets some Subway. The mall has Glo Golf, so we opt for some of that. They effectively have 55 holes (two courses of 28, but the last hole is the same for both and you don't get your ball back). I take an early lead, get a couple holes in one, but hubris bites and I blow six strokes trying to get the ball over a ramp and through a frame instead of being smart and hitting it around. A couple shots that go off the courses don't help, I repeatedly show that sevens are great for battle destiny but not for mini golf, and it takes me three strokes to make the corner of the last hole (it kept bouncing back out). We total the scores and Jon wins by two. Humbled, we roll back to Men's Wearhouse and pick up my duds, then it's time to gas up and hit the road. We stop in Laramie to see if the prizes showed up while we were in Colorado, but Slackerz is closed. I pick up some Dead Guy Ale at North Ridge and it's back to 287 we go. The drive back was about as exciting as the drive down, and we roll into Sheridan shortly after nine.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I had a blast playing cards (even with all the losing and wanting to punch some of my opponents in the face *cough Mark and his Broken Concentration sadism cough cough*), it was great to spend time with people I don't get to see all that often, and it was nice to get the hell out of town for a bit. Special thanks to Linus (and his roommates) and Jerry and Diana for letting us crash with them (and then making breakfast). Only one month until Tatooine Regionals/Colorado States - Team Wyoming will definitely be back for more.
Now I just need a mini vacation from my mini vacation,
Regis
We had planned to leave around 11 on Friday, but someone (that would be me) was running a little behind getting his ducks in a row, and someone else (that would be Jon) was running even later. This would prove to be something of a constant theme for the weekend. Apparently the world runs on Regis Standard Time. The drive down to Laramie is about what you'd expect, except slightly greener (gotta love the wet spring and mild-ish summer we've had), with lots of Electric Six. I can't travel to a tournament with Jon without being stopped on the highway by either a wildfire or road construction, and work on 287 steps up to the plate. We roll into Laramie, drop off Meg's bike and the last of her stuff from my shed and I get my half-read copy of Theodore Rex back. Everything's coming up Milhouse until we stop by Slackerz, the location of Saturday's Walter Cronkite Memorial Wyoming State SWCCG Championship, and learn that prize support hasn't arrived yet (I kind of dropped the ball on ordering it and it was supposed to go to the store). We cross our fingers for tomorrow and boogie down to Flock Hall.
As Jon and I walk up to the door, we hear someone inside comment, "This is how porno movies start," which almost makes me get back in the car (the male-female ratio at the time being a bit unbalanced for that sort of thing in my opinion). They tell me the correct operation of their door is hard for some people, but I pass the Dex check without much trouble. We have a two and a half hour conversation about Transformers before Linus has to get some writing done and Jon and I decide that maybe we should eat dinner, it being nine or so. The Black Pope recommends the muffaletta at McAllister's, which is maybe the most beautiful sandwich I've had the pleasure of consuming. By the Virgin Moose, it's like eating a piece of heaven. Jon and I get back to Linus' and I try out my "fun" decks for the Sunday local in Denver and get ROLLED. The Wii gets fired up and I wax Shinze at Mario Kart (extra awesome, never having played it on the Wii before). We finally decide that 2 am might be a good time to call it a night and get some shuteye. Linus is awesome enough to get up and make some tofu scramble - which was pretty damn awesome - for breakfast. After a quick stop at Kinko's to copy some command cards, it's time for some Star Wars CCG.
No surprise, Team Wyoming gets blown out by pretty much everyone from Colorado, but we had fun so it's all good. Thomas McGee wins the coveted winner's certificate (which I wrote his name on too soon; had Brian Hunter won the final confrontation I would have just crossed Tom's name out and written Hunter's above it). Prize support is a no-show, but everybody's cool with dealing it out at Tatooine Regionals next month. I get some new sleeves (red and gold) and head down to Fort Collins with Jerry, who is nice enough to let us stay with him the next two nights.
There's a barbecue at Tom's, and Jerry plays Nien Numb to my Lando and navigates us across Fort Collins. Jon and I hit the liquor store for some PBR while Tom and Jerry make an undoubtedly madcap run to Safeway for burgers and dogs. The cute cashier at Pringle's cards me, but I'm pretty sure she just wanted my name. After some tasty grilling (high five, Tom!) and hanging with the gang, we head back to Jerry's place and meet his girlfriend Diana, who lives up to Jerry's description of pretty cool. We talk about decks for Sunday a bit and call it a night.
Jerry is so awesome he makes pancakes and bacon for breakfast. His position relative to the ball deck-wise is par for the weekend's course, so I lend him a White Trash deck (that I opted not to play the day before, probably a bad call but whatever) that he played as is and a bounty hunting, feed the rancor-ing My Kind of Scum that he modified (I say RUINED) by removing the bounty hunters and adding more creatures. Tom can't make the tournament as his dog is under the weather, so we stop to pick up Mark (who I have to say always looks sharp) at a parking lot in Windsor. He and Jerry make some special modifications in the back seat while navigating and, after a Blizzard 4 winds up under Jerry's ass, complaining that I take turns too fast. I enlighten them on the concept of the "Greenie," which I describe as a derogatory term for Coloradoans based on the color of the old Colorado license plates. Mark informs me that Coloradoans have a derogatory term for people from Wyoming, too: "from Wyoming." My sensitivity takes that in the teeth.
We find Attactix easily enough and chill for a bit while we wait to start. We wind up with seven people and make some magic happen. I get a bye the third game and make a run across the street to the gyro place I spotted earlier, but they're closed on Sundays so I settle for taquitos from the 7-11 next to the gaming store. Much like the previous day, Team Wyoming comes in at the bottom of the barrel but we're smiling because of a couple of moral victories and tech plays of the day (like Jon's Juri Juices for the actual win). Matt is a cool guy and gives everyone a rare from his collection for prizes. I buy Settlers of Catan and a card game called Fluxx; Jon snags a card game called Bohnanza because it's about farming beans and feautres violence on the box. We head north, have some strange conversations and learn that Mark likes Sarah Palin ("As a politician, or as a centerfold?" I ask incredulously, but to each his own). We get Mark back to his car and continue on to Jerry's pad, where we pick up Diana and hit Old Chicago for dinner - 90 Shilling FTW. Back at Jerry's place, we bust out Fluxx and Jon literally hands me two games. Jerry wins one after we learn to read the entire card and joke about how Jon has a 67% chance of getting death or a radioactive potato. We then try out Bohnanza and I totally stab Jon in the back on the last turn, pretty much stealing his Chili Beans. Alas, it doesn't affect the final standings (Jerry wins by one coin), but the look of utter betrayal on Jon's face is priceless and we laugh for about fifteen solid minutes. At this point it's time for bed, so we call it a night.
I want to stop at Men's Wearhouse before we hit the highway as I have an outdoor wedding to attend on Saturday and wanted a lighter jacket that what I have in my closet, so we do that. They're a little shorthanded, but I get a jacket, slacks, shoes, and tie picked out and find out it'll be a couple hours before they can hem my slacks and adjust the jacket sleeves. Jon and I opt to kill some time at the mall. We take the extra scenic route to the food court; I satisfy my unsatisfied craving from yesterday with a gyro and he gets some Subway. The mall has Glo Golf, so we opt for some of that. They effectively have 55 holes (two courses of 28, but the last hole is the same for both and you don't get your ball back). I take an early lead, get a couple holes in one, but hubris bites and I blow six strokes trying to get the ball over a ramp and through a frame instead of being smart and hitting it around. A couple shots that go off the courses don't help, I repeatedly show that sevens are great for battle destiny but not for mini golf, and it takes me three strokes to make the corner of the last hole (it kept bouncing back out). We total the scores and Jon wins by two. Humbled, we roll back to Men's Wearhouse and pick up my duds, then it's time to gas up and hit the road. We stop in Laramie to see if the prizes showed up while we were in Colorado, but Slackerz is closed. I pick up some Dead Guy Ale at North Ridge and it's back to 287 we go. The drive back was about as exciting as the drive down, and we roll into Sheridan shortly after nine.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I had a blast playing cards (even with all the losing and wanting to punch some of my opponents in the face *cough Mark and his Broken Concentration sadism cough cough*), it was great to spend time with people I don't get to see all that often, and it was nice to get the hell out of town for a bit. Special thanks to Linus (and his roommates) and Jerry and Diana for letting us crash with them (and then making breakfast). Only one month until Tatooine Regionals/Colorado States - Team Wyoming will definitely be back for more.
Now I just need a mini vacation from my mini vacation,
Regis
Monday, July 13, 2009
Echoes
I realize there hasn't been much of anything going on here in some time. Life has been in something of a holding pattern lately, and (1) it isn't something that I feel like elaborating on here and (2) it doesn't make very interesting reading anyway. But the light at the end of that tunnel is pretty close (even if it doesn't seem to be getting any closer quite yet), and there's some adventures on the horizon. First up, I'll be in Laramie and various parts of Colorado this coming weekend for the 2009 Star Wars CCG Wyoming State Tournament and a Denver local with Jon "Cates" Cates, which pretty much a guaranteed formula for wackiness. Stay tuned for trip updates and tournament reports that may or may not feature stolen B-wings and rancors.
So how about that Sarah Palin? My main thoughts on the subject are pretty much "STAY DOWN!" John McCain, on the other hand, said, "I don't think she quit. I think she changed her priorities." Y'know, since that totally makes it alright. I almost thought he was talking about someone else I know. Weird.
Don't let the bastards bring you down,
Regis
So how about that Sarah Palin? My main thoughts on the subject are pretty much "STAY DOWN!" John McCain, on the other hand, said, "I don't think she quit. I think she changed her priorities." Y'know, since that totally makes it alright. I almost thought he was talking about someone else I know. Weird.
Don't let the bastards bring you down,
Regis
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