Taking the Road

I finished Cormac McCarthy's The Road a few weeks ago. It's as good as they say.

If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be "terrifying." I don't recall ever being scared by any book or story...until my son was born. Then things changed.

I first noticed it when I read "Pay the Ghost" by Tim Lebbon in a collection of Halloween stories. It's about a man who takes his little girl out trick-or-treating and she vanishes while holding onto his hand. The next 20 pages deal with his fight to get her back—and I was scared to death as I read it. It was heartbreaking, and I know I wouldn't have felt that way before The Squirt was born.

The Road is the same way: There wasn't a single sentence—not one word—where it wasn't
me in that situation, struggling to survive with my own young son. I remember coming to one sentence and having to physically close the book because I was so rattled. Again...wouldn't have happened if I weren't a parent.

In other Cormac news, the Coen Brothers have just wrapped up the film version of No Country for Old Men. Should be amazing.

Hi Dad

:)

What in the world!?!

Now McCarthy's The Road has won the Pulitzer! What is this world coming to?

I'm thrilled, mind you. Just shocked.

The trouble with abstracts is it always gets worse

I've always been someone who said, "I hate abstracts."

But I've recently given in and played—and bought—a few...and ya know what? I like 'em! I do so like them, Sam-I-Am!

It started with an online game of DVONN, which intrigued me to no end. I played Torres after that, and it jumped into my Top 10. Then it was Ingenious, which was just...um, ingenious. A game of Yinsh convinced me that maybe these Gipf games were worth checking out.

And when I look at other games in my collection, they're arguably abstracts with the thinnest of thin themes: Bridges of Shangri-La, Hive, Through the Desert.
So what's the problem? If I play any of my abstracts even a couple of times, I've probably got a huge advantage over anyone I play who might be new to the game. This means I couldn't just bring one of these out with my wife, otherwise I'd crush her...and that's just not fun.

So while I'm finally coming around to them, I wonder how much they'll actually get played. Unless I can convince my wife—or one of my regular gaming buddies—to get in on the ground floor, I'll have no one to play these great games with. Maybe that's why "I hate abstracts..."

Oprah's outta her mind

I get an email every week from Borders with picks and coupons and what-not. I nearly soiled myself when I got the latest, because apparently Oprah has chosen Cormac McCarthy's The Road as her latest book club pick.

For those who have read his stuff, let that settle in for a second. For those who haven't, let me describe his writing. Bleak. But not just bleak, it's bloody, idiosyncratic, jarring, violent, and just plain...well, NOT Oprah. Blood Meridian is practically a horror novel, despite its Western setting. And No Country for Old Men reads like a Coen Brothers movie.

And The Road is about a father and son trying to get through a violent post-apocalyptic landscape alive. I can't imagine one of her Followers picking up anything else by him: The screeches would be deafening.

But the absolute worst part is that I'm now forced to buy a hardback copy of the book rather than the brand new trade paperback, which will be soiled by that little "Oprah's Book Club" mark on it. Sigh.

I don't think this will be a popular choice at all.

New Wolfe!

Woo-hoo!!

So as I'm delving deep into a new book by Tim Powers--my second-favorite author--I read that a new Gene Wolfe book will be out in November! As he's my very favorite author, this is good and surprising news indeed.

I've also just found out about, and ordered, the above chapbook, which contains two short stories. I can't wait.

Why 30 Rock is the second-best show on TV

Okay, The Office is the best thing on TV...but every time I watch 30 Rock I come away laughing almost as hard.

Tina Fey has created an amazing cast of characters--starting with the hilarious Tracy Jordan. Every single thing that comes out of his mouth is comedy gold. When he appears on the screen I find myself literally leaning forward in anticipation of what he's going to say. Tina's funny. The other writers are funny. I find myself amazed at what Alec Baldwin's done with Jack--he's an incredible character.

The characters are all surrounded by this smart, biting, hilarious writing by Tina Fey that targets everything and everyone. In last night's episode, with one razor-sharp line she absolutely skewered Kabbalah. Tina's a fantastic writer, and I'm in awe of her.

But the best part of the show is how so many times it tiptoes on the precipice of sentimentality or a cliched wrap-up, only to yank the rug out from under you in a completely surprising way. Last night's episode found her almost getting the guy, only to have it completely and hilariously spoiled by Pete's last-second comments that end up totally out of context. We'd been set up for it, but it still surprised me.

I love this show, and hope it stays on for years.

Here I Stand...and Wait Around

I was able to play my first game of Here I Stand this weekend—a 6-player slugfest. I was really excited to give this a shot. Ultimately it was disappointing. (Before I give my thoughts, two of the players had played before, and one was a veteran wargamer who knew everything about every power. So this isn't a case of us "just playing it wrong.")

For the first 5 hours, we were all LOVING it...seriously. We commented on how the time was flying by, how the powers seemed balanced, and how fiddly things had been abstracted. At one point the guy playing the Papacy yelled out, "I want that guy DEAD!" after Luther screwed up his plans yet again. It was perfect. We were having a blast.

But then, somewhere between 5 and 8 hours, the flaws started to come to light. For one, there's a fair amount of downtime—particularly if you're not the Papacy or the Protestants—and we were playing quickly. This problem seems to get worse as the game progresses—you wait around for 10 minutes just to play a card and put some troops on the map. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. For the Papacy and Protestants it turns into a dicefest, and over the course of the game spaces just flip back and forth, and the P&P scores go slightly up and slightly down. By the end, those who weren't playing the P or the P commented that we were glad we weren't playing the P or the P.

The cards weren't full of interesting choices: It was either a great Event for you that you'd obviously play, or it was equally obvious that you should just play it for CPs. There were pretty large differences in the strengths of the Events. One gave 2 VPs to the Ottomans if they played it. What?! Our game was incredibly close, and that sort of swing for just drawing a card was wacky.

There was some bash-the-leader with those cards too. The Ottomans were set to win, but the Haps had a card that let him cause a revolt in a city, booting the Ottoman out and costing him the VPs. On the next turn the Ottoman player recaptured the city...but the Haps player had the drawn the SAME CARD on that turn and foiled him again. It was a less-than-gripping way to stave off victory.

There's also a rich-get-richer problem: As people gain Keys they gain VPs and cards, so if you lose a Key you're losing cards (turns) and your ability to gain a key back is limited further.

Another problem was the different setups for the different scenarios. We chose the 6-turn scenario, which skips the first three turns of the regular campaign. But the setup is completely wonky. Somehow France loses Milan, the English aren't anywhere to be seen in the New World, and the Hapsburgs are all over the New World—including circumnavigating the globe! There's very little chance of a real game that started from the beginning being at that point 3 turns later. So France was screwed from the beginning, and England was down in New World VPs from the start.

In the end, I wish the game could hold onto that first-5-hour-feeling we all had. Alas, we were quite happy for it to end by the time it did. The weird thing is, everyone said they'd play again, so I think we all recognized that it's SO close to being a great game. I liked the history; I liked the varying powers and varying ways to play each of those powers—which makes replay value through the roof; I didn't at all mind the length. It just feels like a nearly there game.

Heroes

I've been watching closely the newish show Heroes. This despite the fact that the plot is thin, the dialogue laughable, and the coincidences unbelievable. Some of the characters are genuinely interesting: Namely Hiro and Syler.

I was okay with the whispered "Save the cheerleader, save the world" line that was all over the mini finale.

But this week's promo continues the whispering tagline with "Somebody flies; somebody dies." This is a bad trend for a show that's just barely keeping my attention. What's next? "Somebody sneezes; somebody eats Cheez Whiz!" "Save Hiro; eat a burrito!"

Even Lost is...well, losing it. The first season was the most compelling TV I've ever seen. But the show has lost its way. They're not convincing me they can write characters. Once they move beyond the interesting surface of characters, they get much less interesting.

Think about mysterious, mystic Locke early on in the show. Now he's...what exactly? Brooding, petulant, and rarely seen.

The only reason Eko will forever remain a compelling character is that they killed him off before they could screw him up.

I'm afraid that this show will end the way X-Files did: Not with a bang, but a whimper.

Update: Oh no! Heroes killed off Simone! A barely encountered, surface-level character who wasn't interesting enough to care about! How will I sleep at night?

Skin Deep

This is a fantastic column about the real story of the Super Bowl: Two men who are at the top of their games, and openly acknowledge that it's all from God. And the fact that it's written by a black man makes it even more powerful.

Truth?

We've started a new class at church--The Truth Project. It's about getting back to a Christian worldview and reacting to postmodernism.
The thing that's most intriguing is that it takes on deep subjects head-on--ones the church often won't tackle within the congregation because they're afraid they'll scare people off by making them "think too much." So the topics are Ethics and Philosophy, Theology, Science, Sociology, Law, and Anthroplogy--I can't wait.

We watched the first video last week, which dealt with Truth, and whether there is Truth--which is, of course, so much a part of postmodernism. They had a "man-on-the-street" interview segment, which asked people about their ideas on Truth. The most interesting response was from a Universalist/Unitarian, who said that the world is a cathedral, and truth is the light coming through the windows, and everyone sees and interprets that truth differently. It seemed she was saying that because we all have different views, we can't call anything truth.

People chuckled every time she spoke, but I felt it was profoundly sad. This is the sort of wishy-washy, nonoffensive, politically correct junk the world loves to hear: "Now THAT'S a Christian I can sign on with." It was amazingly unbiblical! What about the call to be either hot or cold? What about the narrow path with few on it? What about the fact that we're labeled--by Jesus--as either a sheep or a goat? That's black and white. That's Truth.

Edit: Thanks to Drew for pointing out that I was less-than-clear on why the Unitarian's thoughts seemed sad to me. Since I'm going from memory, I fear I've understated her thoughts. As I understood her position, she felt that because we're seeing truth through our own perception, that we can't really call anything truth.

CCM=Crappy, Corny Music

I get promos of most new Christian CDs, and yesterday I realized it has been months and months since I got something worthwhile from the "CCM" market. It's all rubbish!
Why?!

I sorta wrote about this once before...but I just can't let it go because I listen to a LOT of music, and part of my job is trying to find stuff to recommend to youth pastors. And right now I've got nothing in my bin. And don't give me Switchfoot. They're a fine band, but everyone knows about them and will buy their stuff anyway.

Where's the interesting music?

I don't read most "popular" Christian writers, because they often talk about the obvious and the safe...and they all sound the same. It's no different with music. I want someone who will challenge me. I don't necessarily agree with them, but if they get me to think, and maybe solidify my own views, then it's well worth it.



So the best album I've listened to in 6 months is Tom Waits' newest, Orphans. He's certainly "interesting," but he's also challenging, original, and not afraid to shine a light into dark places to see what scurries out. He fascinates me, and I'd rather listen to his stuff than 30 CCM albums.

There are some bands who are succeeding...and they're doing it on major labels and in mainstream stores. Thrice's newest album, Vheissu, is full of unashamedly Christian lyrics, wrapped around fantastic music. The song "Like Moths to Flame" is about Peter's denial of Christ, fercryinoutloud!

I don't know where I'm going with this. I'll continue to shop at Target and Best Buy for my music, because that's where the interesting music is to be found. And I suppose as long as it's found, that's what counts.

The Squirt

Every day with him is better than the last.

How do writers blog?

I'm a writer...so why is updating my blog so hard for me? I can pop off 100 words on just about anything in no time flat...but updating this doggone blog is almost impossible.

I think it's because most bloggers aren't writers. They just barf whatever's on their minds onto their blog. (I'm not saying that's a bad thing.At least they're updating.)

Whereas I'm constantly self-editing everything. Even to the point where I'm wondering if what I'm writing is even worth writing about.

So I suppose I can make a resolution to update more frequently. But like most resolutions, it'll likely fall to the wayside.

Tune in tomorrow when I opine on whether toilet paper ought to roll from the top or the bottom. (Here's a preview: Only Nazis have theirs roll under.)

There and back again

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Two major-ish things have happened.

1) I got a promotion at work: Associate Editor. That's a loooong way from a temporary part-time copy editor covering someone's maternity leave. So along with the new title comes new responsibilities. I'm loving every second of it. I get to write and edit, stretching my creative muscles to make things read better.

2) My wife and I left our church. We'd been there for nearly 6 years, but we've recently felt God telling us it was time to move on. So we're searching, and trusting, and full of hope. We visited the local Wesleyan church, and liked it immmediately. And apparently the Squirt made quite an impression on the nursery staff. We'll visit again next week, and delve deeper into who and what this church is. It would almost seem too easy to find a church home so easily. Especially after it took us nearly a year to find the one we just left. It's hard to even write those words.

So both of these big changes have been a lesson in trust and patience for me. I say I trust God. Then I get to prove it by taking steps of faith. And if he's guiding our steps, we'll be in just the right place. And safe.

Firefly

Target has the complete series of Firefly on sale this week for 19 bucks. For whatever reason, I'd put off buying the series, but it's paid off in a big way. What a deal.

I watched the "first" episode when it premiered on Fox—I had no idea they were already undercutting it by showing the third episode first. I loved it. I was never a fan of Buffy or Angel, but I always admired the dialogue and the writing. Even though Joss didn't write/direct every episode, his influence is on all of this fantastic series.

I admire writers who can write good dialogue. Elmore Leonard is a master at it, and Joss Whedon is very good. I've always wondered why people are so forgiving of writers who can write a good plot, but whose dialogue sounds more wooden than my coffee table. (Cough—Robert Ludlum—Cough)

Games:
I'll be trying out Stephenson's Rocket tomorrow night. I've read the rules at least 4 times, but I have no idea what a good strategy might be. This is one time where having read the rules beforehand will earn me absolutely no advantage. Still sounds interesting, though. And it's a Knizia...

Delivering mail to Blue Moon City

It was a good night. I got to play two new games that I'd been interested in, and they were both very good. (Sorry for you guys who played Conquest of Pangea—though I'd like to hear what was bad about it.)

Thurn & Taxis

This is a good game. It's a "connection" game a la Ticket to Ride, but there are much more meaningful decisions to be made here. (I'm not bagging on Ticket, I'm just saying that this is the next step up in complexity from that.) The board is gorgeous and very functional.

This one is all about choices: Whose help do you enlist each turn; which card(s) will you take; which city card to lay down; when to score the route—now, or wait a bit and get the VP chits; should you place houses in numerous regions or concentrate on one? The more I think about it, the more I see that this seemingly simple connection game hides lots of interesting decisions.

Thumbs up

Blue Moon City
Reiner Knizia is a genius. I honestly can't fathom how someone can create so many completely different games while maintaining such a high percent of hits.

So you're tasked with rebuilding Blue Moon City, and to do so you're using cards with 7 different "suits." What's intriguing is that while each card has a building value of 1-3, most of them also have a special power—and you can only use the card for its building value or power, but not both. As Dan said, it's full of killer "big moves" where you'll go in, complete a building for big points, but it costs you your entire hand, using values and power combos to do it. So you've scored lots of VPs, but you're now powerless. Or you could spread your influence far and let other people finish the building for you.

This was a great game. Lots of tension, lots of meaningful decisions, and (especially with the different set-up each game) lots of replay value—at least for a while. He's also integrated the Blue Moon universe into this well—for the most part, the powers of the races match their abilities in the regular card game. No small feat, in my opinion.

Big, big thumbs up.

In Defense of the Re-Play

I love my game group...well, mostly. But if there were one thing I could change about it, it would be the tendency to play a game once and then move on to the newest and latest.
Some of this is undoubtedly because of the Davis Horde. When you have literaly any game you want at your disposal, you've got a lot of games to churn through. But I really think we're missing out on some gems by flying though them. Even when we play a major rule wrong, it's VERY rare for someone to suggest we play again with the correct rules.

So when I hear people like Mark Johnson talk about a Game of the Month, I'm very intrigued. I think I'm going to suggest something along those lines. We'll see if it gets shot down.

The Power of Doubt

Yeah...so I say "God stuff soon"...and it's now over a month later. Oh well, I think my wife's the only one who reads this blog anyway.

So I write a column for Group Magazine's email newsletter, and this month I tackled the subject of doubt and faith. I like where I ended up, and the fact that one of the magazine's other editors (and one of my good friends) vehemently disagrees with me. That makes it a good subject to write on. Anyway, here's the column: http://www.youthministry.com/ArticleTempl.asp?ID=1214

Meh-dina

Well, Medina did get played and Verrater did not.
I'm not sure what to think of Medina. I liked some of the mechanics, but it seemed too short, and not very...fun. I'll definitely try to get it played again, but we'll see if anyone bites.

Das Endes des Triumvirats was the big game of the night. I'm still not sure what I feel about it. There are some very cool mechanics going on. I really like games where there are multiple ways to win, and it's fun jockeying for position in something while watching out for someone else winning in another area. In the end, though, it seems to suffer from the multiplayer wargame problem of..."Ahh, you just won a big battle against the other guy. Well done. And now that your forces are depleted I'm going to waltz in and take it from you. Bwaa haa haa..." Like I said, great ideas, but I'm not sure I'll be buying. Plus, since Z-Man is producing it, it'll likely be at least $10 more than comparable games from publishers like Rio Grande Games. If you're going to overcharge me it had better be a great game...like Reef Encounter.

I've been writing a lot about games. God stuff soon.