Holiday Joy

The winter holidays have started out good for me so far.

For Thanksgiving I spent most of the weekend up in far North Oklahoma with my pops, ostensibly hunting deer, but in reality watching lots of football. To top the weekend off Robely and I went to see Tran Siberian Orchestra (part of her birthday present). I do not really care for their music, but the put on one heck of a show. Lights, lasers, fog, pyrotechnics, band members running around the auditorium and more pyrotechnics! Definitely not what I was expecting. It was a really good time and I really like the atmosphere of OKC's Ford Center. So much so that I scored tickets for my dad's birthday to see Cirque de Soleil: Saltimbanco. Can't wait to get back up there this weekend.

So, after a leisurely drive back home, Robely and I decided to catch a matinee showing of Quantum of Solace (the new Bond flick). I'll give it a solid two thumbs up with a caveat. If you missed the first Daniel Craig movie you might have a hard time understanig the plot in this one, it provides a lot of Bond's motivation throughout the film. Definitely see Casino Royale before you catch Quantum of Solace. Both are hardcore action thrillers more in line with Ludlum's Bourne movies than the Sean Connery/ Roger Moore Bond films.

Tonight saw our annual Christmas Game Exchange for the Dallas Gamers and we had a great turn out, something like 40 people. The way it works is that you bring a wrapped new or gently used game. When your name is called you can either unwrap one from the table or steal one someone else has opened. A game can only be stolen three times, so you kind of hope for your name to be somewhere in the middle. If someone steals from you then you have the choice to open a new game or steal from someone else.

I was happy with the games people brought this year (unlike one year where someone brought Ft. Worth-opoly and an old computer game). I saw hot new games like Pandemic, TTR: the Card Game and Dominion. I had TTR: the Card Game in my hands at one point but ended up coming home with a beautiful wooden dice tower and the game Dixie. The surprise game this year was a copy of the 1961 Parker Brothers game 1863. The box is very similiar to Monopoly, so it was avoided for a long time. Everyone oohed and aahed when it was finally opened.

And I can not give enough props to Lo Tech Games. Ernie provides raffle games for all our major events, including every DGM. Tonight was no exception, and as an added bonus I walked away with a copy of Wasabi (which seemed to be a hot game at BGG.Con).

Yes, the winter holidays are looking good for me so far.