I’ve played this ruleset before, but not in a number of years.  And now I’m wondering why I’ve been playing the Standard rules instead.

While there’s nothing wrong with Fantasy Flight’s updated take on the game, it really doesn’t feel like the same game.  It’s more random, you might argue a little more thematic, and it adds some interesting options for customizing your spaceship and some slight variation in player powers.  These all sound great, but in reality, I prefer the simpler vibe of the classic rules.  The game is less random, the rules are a little less fiddly to explain to a new player, and it feels more like a pure pick-up-and-deliver game.

One rule in particular summarizes things for me.  In the classic game, the first player to reach a set net worth (for example, $2000) is the winner.  This gives the whole game a “race” vibe.  By contrast, the standard game lasts 30 turns, and the highest net worth wins.  This feels very different – since you only get 30 turns, a few turns where you don’t quite make it to the next system really feels wasteful and sub-optimal.  It’s also happened that the final turn or two really don’t matter for some players if they can’t possibly make any money on those turns.

I’m willing to bet that a game to $2000 in the classic rules lasts almost exactly as long as a 30-turn game of standard, but the subtle change in the way the rule works makes for a totally different feel in gameplay.

This is really the first time where Fantasy Flight has updated a game and I’ve had a strong preference for the previous incarnation.

Fortunately, both versions come in the same box, so as a gamer you don’t have to hunt down a vintage copy on eBay if you don’t want to.  But it stands out in my mind as a game where Fantasy Flight kind of missed the mark.  This doesn’t happen often.

Inis is a card-driven area control game with very subtle play emerging from a small deck of cards and a distinctive draft mechanic.  I made a run for victory but unfortunately Todd and Séb read the situation correctly and stopped me.  Séb won on the next turn.  In retrospect I messed up my card draft pretty badly on a couple of turns by failing to draft even a single card that could initiate a clash, which severely limited my options to affect the game.  I still don’t fully appreciate all of the card interactions, but I saw enough to realize there’s an awful lot of game in there.  And the artwork is really quite beautiful.

We followed up Inis with Innovation, and we all were a little surprised at how “swingy” the game was.  Pretty early in the game I felt like my position was unrecoverable.  Mike had played a few cards which gave him a huge advantage, and I only had one or two cards in my tableau with no real options aside from drawing more cards on my turn.  I lucked out a bit by drawing a lot of “splay” effect cards and then not playing them, which slowed down my rivals a bit.

Eventually I ended up in a position where everyone had mostly upgraded beyond level 3 cards and I was able to take two turns where I played a card and immediately activated it, to great effect.  I managed to build an engine where I was able to add a card to victory point area every turn, and so I just made a race towards 20 points, buying the first four numeric Achievement cards as I went.  Strangely, nobody was able to stop me.  My approach relied partly on luck with a card draw effect but I came out on top every turn.  So I was the victor, and my tableau never had more than one card of any given color during the game (and I think my highest level card was level 4).

Once the game was over, it was clear that approach would likely never work again at that table.  Honestly though, the game has enough luck and “swinginess” that it might actually work sometimes.  It’s a very different game than Glory to Rome.  Simpler rules, and fewer brain-burning decisions make it a lot more casual, which is kind of nice in contrast.  Mechanically there are some similarities but the game felt very different to me.

It’s always nice to get some new games played, and these two will be sticking around for some time – the group thoroughly enjoyed both.

I saw a total of 32 different acts, and visited every stage except for the Heineken House at least once, including the new “punk” Sonora stage.  I discovered the secret tiki bar tucked away inside the craft beer garden.  And I thoroughly enjoyed the art displays this year, notably the Antarctic dome.  And I did it all with the same awesome group of friends that I’ve shared the experience with for the past few years.

Here’s a rundown of what I saw.

33. Crystal Castles.  What an awful performance.  I was hoping they would be better than when I last saw them 6 ish years ago.  Nope.

32. Kiiara.  Garbage auto-tuned pop music.  And she was 20 minutes late for a 45 minute set.  Blech.

12. A tie between the following acts:

• Empire of the Sun
• Richie Hawtin
• Phantogram
• The Avalanches
• Nora En Pure
• King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band
• Glass Animals
• Jagwar Ma
• Bon Iver
• Tycho
• Bastille
• Mitski
• GRYFFIN
• Ben UFO
• Lorde
• Tourist
• Skepta
• Allah-Las
• Future Islands

They were all good, don’t get me wrong, but they failed to crack my top 10.

11.  The Antarctic Dome.  While not a musical act, it was definitely one of the top experiences of the weekend for me, even though it was partially a thinly veiled ad for HP.  The ten minute loop was really cool and the quality of the projection was amazing.  Kudos to Obscura Digital for creating something truly unique.

10. Radiohead.  Some sound production issues marred an otherwise fantastic, if under appreciated, performance.  I’m not the biggest Radiohead fan in the world but I enjoyed this performance more than their previous Coachella set in 2012.  It was a little disappointing to see the crowd though – and I hope it doesn’t mean Coachella will stop booking Rock headliners.

9. Bonobo.  2017 will always be remembered as the year Bonobo got the wrong time slot at Coachella.  His live show is truly awesome, but he was on the main stage before sunset which was a shame.  In fact, all I could think about when I saw Tycho perform the next day on the outdoor theater in the sunset time slot was that Bonobo should have had that time slot instead.

8. Roisin Murphy.  This was definitely 50% music and 50% performance art, and it was exactly what I needed at the time even though I didn’t know it.  Overall it was pretty spellbinding, and I stayed for the entire set despite having plans to the contrary at the start.

7. Shura.  One of my friends convinced me to go in early to see Shura, and I was happy I did.  She sounds vaguely early Madonna-ish, if Madonna was into dream pop.  It was a great way to start my Saturday.

6. Justice.  I left their set early to go see New Order, but if there hadn’t been a conflict, I no doubt would have stayed until the end.  The crowd was huge and very much into the show, and it sounded amazing even from my position about 2/3 of the way back.

5. New Order.  This was the second time I’ve seen New Order at Coachella, and this time they rewarded me with a 90 minute set instead of a 60 minute set.  They included a number of tracks from their most recent album which was a nice treat, and as in the past, they closed with a 2-song Joy Division encore.

4. Moderat.  I missed my previous chance to see them live and was determined that this would be the time.  I was unprepared for the intensity of the show, and I’m actually a little surprised the Mojave tent was still standing at the end of the show.  Holy smokes.  It was great.  It also helped that the crowd was into it – I never expected to see a bunch of people singing along to Bad Kingdom, but that’s exactly what happened.

3. Lady Gaga.  You can criticize her music all you want, but she puts on a hell of a show.  Reasoning that I was unlikely to see her live ever again, I made a game-time decision to skip out on Nicolas Jaar and instead worked my way into the belly of the beast at the front of the stage to claim a prime spot.  It was 100% worth it.  I had a blast.

2. The xx.  The circumstances were just right for an incredible set and The xx delivered.  I didn’t expect to see the whole set but wound up staying for all of it.  The sound was incredible and the performance exactly matched my mood.

1. Hans Zimmer.  This was not just the best set of the weekend, but the best festival set I have ever seen, at any festival, ever.  To quote Mr. Zimmer himself, “It takes a crazy person to bring an orchestra to the desert, but it had to be done.”  This was a must-see for me going in to the weekend even though I didn’t really know what to expect, and I was blown away.  It’s rare to see a large chunk of the crowd moved to tears at Coachella, but that’s exactly what happened when he performed The Lion King.  And the rest of the show was just as powerful.  I’m convinced that I’ll never see another show like it at Coachella no matter how many years I continue to attend.

A few weeks ago was the first time in a while that I played a non-solitaire game of Arkham Horror.  It was nice to have the company of my fellow game group as we battled the thousand masks of Nyarlathotep and tried our best to block out the horrors unleashed by the blasphemous play “The King in Yellow”.  As usual, the game dripped with theme and the blood of the investigators in equal measure.  We managed to pull off a somewhat surprising victory by defeating the ancient one after he awakened.

I also got my hands on a copy of the relatively new Arkham Horror: The Card Game as a Christmas gift (thanks, Jason!).  The other night, I finally managed to see the campaign to a satisfactory conclusion as opposed to losing badly.  To be fair, I cheated a little.  I didn’t start over each time I failed, but managed to get to the final scenario in a somewhat decent state, and then played the final scenario about five times to finally manage a victory.  I really like the game, and believe it’s a better implementation of the cooperative mechanics that previously appeared in Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

One particularly clever change is the way the deck-building system works.  No matter how many powerful cards you might collect over time, the investigators start each campaign with only “level 0” cards in their decks.  I’m really hoping this means that future scenarios won’t have to amp up the difficulty to account for overpowered cards in the same way as in LotR.  I won’t be able to find out for certain until I get my hands on a copy of the first major expansion, which sold out pretty much instantly upon release.  There are also some changes that make the difficulty of the game easier to tweak, and which make the number of threats and the pacing of the game adjust better to different player counts.  It still seems balanced more for two players than solo play, but it doesn’t seem as lopsided as LotR.

Another mechanic I really like is a very simple one.  Normally, the players can confer and in some situations play cards to help each other out.  However, Some cards have the Peril attribute, which means the player has to deal with them completely on their own.  No help or even conference with other players is permitted while the card is being resolved.  You definitely get a good sense that “nobody can help you now” from these cards.  Which really helps evoke the horror theme.

The other game I finally had a chance to play was the new, second edition of Mansions of Madness.  One of my gaming group members borrowed a copy of the game from a coworker, so we had a chance to test it out before confronting the somewhat high sticker price ourselves.

This edition of Mansions features an iPad application that replaces the role of the Game Master in the previous edition, and it’s a really nice idea.  The iPad application does some basic bookkeeping, automates the scenario and embodies many of the rules so the players don’t have to remember all of the fiddly details you would need to know to play a game like Arkham Horror.  And because the app knows the number of players, the game is scaled appropriately.  For example, monsters have more hit points when there are more players, and fewer hit points when there are fewer players.

The app also handles anything that would be the result of a card draw / random event in other cooperative games.  As a specific example, consider what happens when you decide to attack a monster.  The app will ask what type of weapon you’re using (if any).  The app then tells you what sort of skill check you need to do and what the results are in terms of damage.  Sometimes you’ll get to add the damage rating of a weapon you’re using, but not always, and there’s a random component.  Attacking a Cultist with the same weapon twice in a row might result in different rolls and different amounts of damage you can do.  The players can make some predictions that are usually going to turn out true, but the odd curve ball keeps you on your toes.

Another neat thing derives from the fact that the app knows the identities of the players, and from the fact that there isn’t a lead investigator that rotates; instead the players decide on the turn order each turn as they see fit.  So, the text on some mythos events is customized with the character names if it’s only intended to affect one player.  This turns “the lead player must make a horror check” into “Wendy Adams must make a horror check” instead.  It’s a subtle thing but it makes it a little more visceral.  Bad things aren’t happening to the “lead investigator”, they’re happening to Wendy.  And she may or may not be able to urchin out of harm’s way this time.

Overall the iPad app felt like it fit into the game very well, and it’s a free download (because it’s not useful without the game components).  Having the app opens up the door for expansions via in-app purchases if all you want is an additional scenario and don’t need any new bits.  The app also includes (for free) scenarios that require you to purchase an expansion that comes in a physical box.  You just tell the app what you own, and it will add those scenarios to the list you see when you launch the app.  We all agreed the game was a lot of fun.

My friend played the same scenario a second time with his significant other, and he was a little disappointed in the replay-ability since the scenario basically unfolded the same way the second time.  It would have been nice if some things were randomized or there were alternate maps that could show up even for the same scenario, but that wasn’t evident.  This is a little disappointing and makes me question whether the sticker price is worth it even though it’s a really great game.

So that was a lot of Cthulhu in the month of January.  And I’m sure there will more more in the coming months as well, especially if the expansions for Arkham Horror: The Card Game come back in stock.

Even though the acts were all fantastic and the overall experience was awesome, there are a few things that stand out in hindsight as the best aspects of the weekend.

First, the venue’s transformation.  I’ve been to the Empire Polo Club a number of times, but always for Coachella.  This setup was quite different yet just as spellbinding as all of the other incarnations I’ve seen.  It was quite an experience to walk around and reflect back on the time we found shade at the foot of the stone lion sculptures on a hot Saturday afternoon and to grab a beer at the craft beer garden and remember the time we got burgers at Eureka and had more truffle fries than we could finish.  The same, yet different.

Second, the amazing display of photographs of the artists.  It was really cool to see all of the images in one place, and even cooler that the tent was air conditioned since Saturday was pretty warm.  And in true “festival magic” fashion, we got to meet one of the photographers who happened to be there.

As an honorable mention, there was one definite surprise during the weekend.  I was there for weekend two and most of my friends went weekend one, so I thought I knew what to expect.  And then Rihanna came out on stage with Paul McCartney.  Holy cow.  She looked amazing and sounded even better.  Wow.

Finally, the chance to go to one of my favorite places on the planet and share the experience with my parents was… indescribable.  They were impressed with the venue and the organization, and they had an unforgettable experience.  Being part of that is something I will always remember, and every time I wear the t-shirt I bought at the show, I think about it.  Everyone who has ever been to a music festival knows that the people you go with are the truly irreplaceable ingredient that powers the magic; this was no exception.

It’s hard to imagine that next year’s festivals will top this experience, but then again, I’ve yet to be disappointed.

This is truly going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event.  Don’t disappoint me, legends of Rock and Roll…

1. It’s a great game.  Well-balanced and never quite predictable.
2. It’s over-hyped.  It should be top 100 on BoardGameGeek but not top 20 like it is right now.
3. It sort of feels like Eclipse, but doesn’t replace it.  Both are staying in my collection.
4. The solo game is well-built.  Given the set up time, I’ll probably solo other games a little more often, but it’s definitely worth playing solo.  Good enough, in fact, that if you want a new solo game I’d suggest it without hesitation.
5. It’s expansion-worthy.  Mine is pre-ordered.
6. Even after multiple plays, I enjoy the artwork.  It’s fantastic.  And it’s definitely part of the reason the game is so well-received.

If you can get your hands on it, you should.

My decision to purchase Scythe wasn’t straightforward.  I own enough games that I’m pretty selective about buying new ones, and I try to only buy games that are both really good and which scratch a different itch than games I already have.  Which made this one tricky.  I was super excited about the theme, the artwork, and what I could glean from videos about the game, but it was pretty apparent that if I wanted a retail copy any time soon I’d have to pre-order it without having a chance to play it first.  I was also a little concerned that while the theme was different, the game would fit the same niche as Eclipse, which I also own.

I don’t regret the purchase.  Not even a little.  And it’s definitely different enough from Eclipse that both are staying in my collection.

I think what I really like about it is the way the economy in the game works.  You’re never completely stuck and there’s always a way to get resources.  Exploration isn’t quite as random as Eclipse, but there’s still plenty of reason to venture forth, even early in the game.  I don’t feel like it would be possible to win by completely turtling, but it’s definitely possible to win without ever winning a combat (in fact, that’s how I won my first game).

The solo rules were also a pleasant surprise.  I won my first game against Autometta (the easiest AI) without too much trouble, but I can see how it will be much harder to win at any higher level.  I haven’t tried yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

And of course, the game is wonderfully produced.  Even though I’m “slumming it” with a base retail copy and no upgrades, the production value is very high, and the mechs and characters are very well done and add a lot of flavor to the gameplay.

It’s been a hit in my group for sure, and I foresee it staying in my collection for a very long time.

Later variations of Risk fixed this.  Mission Risk allowed for victory conditions that weren’t just based on player elimination.  And one of my favorite incarnations, Risk 2210 A.D., opted for a fixed-length game that’s exactly 5 turns long, and the board wasn’t fully populated at the outset so you could spend turns 1 and 2 expanding your empire and not necessarily fighting other players.

I haven’t played any Risk variants recently, as My attention is more often focused on eurogames, or when the group does play something war-game-y or 4x-ish we tend to go for games like Clash of Cultures and Eclipse, which are playable in a short-ish timeframe.  I’ve also spent far too many hours playing Twilight Struggle on my iPad lately.

But none of these other games really scratch the exact same itch that Risk did.  Which is why I was excited to try out Spheres of Influence recently.  This very much feels like Risk, but done in a way I can really enjoy it in a short time frame with friends.  The main factors I like are:

• The game is a fixed number of rounds in length, and the victory conditions don’t necessarily encourage total warfare against another player.  Well-timed tactical strikes are often much more effective.
• Within a round, each player gets multiple turns, but the order of play is randomized.  It’s possible all of your turns will be early in the round, late in the round, or that you’ll get two back-to-back turns.  This makes it much more interesting to plan out what you want to do in a given round since you can’t be sure exactly when the opponent you want to attack will get her next turn.
• In a game with few players, you each play multiple factions.  Special cards obtained by a faction can be used by another faction that the same player controls, which leads to some interesting tactical options.
• The board starts nearly empty, with each faction only occupying a single space.  That may sound like too little combat will happen, but by round 4 things are definitely going to be pretty crowded.

It’s easily playable in a couple of hours, even with new players.  And it hits the spot if you want to play Risk, but want something a little more modern in terms of design.

In September, I’m headed to Kaaboo which has a pretty interesting lineup.  Lots of 90s and 00s nostalgia, and it’s local, so I can sleep in my own bed which is a huge bonus.  I skipped Kaaboo last year as it was their first year and I wanted to hear some feedback in terms of the organization.  From all indications it went off without a hitch, and so this year it’s time to take the plunge.

Then in October, I’m going on a Desert Trip along with my parents.  There will never be another event quite like this one and I’m looking forward to it immensely.  More straight up multi-concert than music festival, it promises to draw a very different crowd to the Empire Polo Club than Coachella does.  It will seem a bit strange to not run around the polo fields and bounce from stage to stage, but I’m sure I’ll adjust quickly enough.

An embarrassment of riches to be sure.  I’ve never done 3 major festivals in the same year before.  and I’m not sure I will again, but never say never…

Thursday

Scene: Pre-dawn, big box parking lot.  A surprisingly busy store, given the hour.  Clusters of cars nowhere near the entrance.

The group agreed to meet at the La Quinta Wal-Mart at 5:30am for a 6:00am departure.  Miraculously, everyone was more or less on time.  Luis and I arrived at about 5:35, and since we did all of our shopping on Wednesday, all we bought that morning was 20lbs of ice.  There were many hugs and introductions, and we made a 6:10-ish departure to the polo grounds.

We were in line the earliest I’ve ever been in line for camping security, and I was car #15 in my line.  Pretty awesome.  The group was split almost 50/50 between two lines, and when security searches would start at 8:00am, we would move at about the same pace.  So far so good.

Interlude: Super Positive Megan can’t have Jello Shots

One of our group members, Megan, couldn’t make it this year, so we decided to make a cardboard cut-out of her and bring it to the festival.  We started off by re-creating the picture from which the cutout was made (in the Coachella camping security line).  We also did a round of Jello shots.  Because of course we did.

Security was kind of different this year than years past.  They started out by tearing every car apart.  And taking forever.  Forever.

Then, at about 9:00 or so, I’m guessing a supervisor got a radio message telling him to get things moving because traffic was getting really bad on the roads.  Or something very much like that happened.  Starting with the car 3 in front of us, they were barely searching anything.  And when I got to the staging area, I was pleasantly surprised to see they were staging us in lot 10 and there was tons of room.  Not the usual disaster.  I put up the flag and texted the group, and within 5 minutes, two more cars rolled in.  Then minutes later, all 5 of the other cars on the group showed up.  Apparently, they just started waving cars through in that line. Not complaining, but wow…

So, into lot 8 we went (yes!).  We wound up at the very North end of North 806th street, pretty much prime real estate.  The camp was set up by 11:00am.  A first for us.  Lots of time to unwind before the retro merchandise sale at 5:00pm, where I managed to score a free t-shirt.  Afterwards, a few cocktails were drunk and we started to ease into the weekend.

Friday

Scene: A giant crowd, funneling into a few very long, slow moving lines.  In sight but inaccessible off to the left, a much larger number of lines, moving much faster.

Some wind damage delayed the opening of the festival Friday morning, but something else had also gone wrong.  People entering direct from Lot 8 in the campground were being placed in only 4 lines.  Lines from the yellow/red path entrance of to the left were shorter and moving much faster, but getting in those lines required quite a trek.  Seeing this, we walked around to the blue path entrance (from day parking), and got in very quickly and with no issue.  Then, locker secured, we browsed the wares in the boutique.  I bought a hat, and Luis and I wandered around the festival, looking at the art.

We then wound up in Despacio, which was one of the coolest things about the whole weekend.  A custom-made sound-system, an intimate, galaxy-themed dance floor, and a Brian Eno track filled the air. For real.  This track was from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.  One of my friends would go back into Despacio on Sunday, and meet someone we-think-but-cannot-be-certain was Brian Eno himself.  Strange.  And awesome.

Speaking of awesome, our first act on Friday was the legendary Mavis Staples.  At 76 years old, she still managed to teach a lesson on how to put on a show.  Wow.  Great way to start the weekend, and definitely a highlight.

At this point, the group splinters and I head off on my own to HEALTH.  The last few songs of their set were a lot of fun, and I have some more free time so I had back to the camp site briefly to relax.

Back in the festival, I see the very end of Years & Years before heading over to Bob Moses.  I danced for the whole set.  The crowd wasn’t as into it as I hoped, but i still had a great time.  Then I made a bee-line to the beer garden to meet Blaine and watch Foals.  I didn’t find him until the end of the set almost, but He and I both enjoyed the set, even more than the last time they performed at Coachella.  I had enough time to grab a beer and chill and catch up with Blaine before the first part of the Kills, then walked over to St. Germain for his set.

He had a ton of live musicians on stage performing, and it was kinda clear that the camera man had no idea who St. Germain actually was.  Never once did the video screens focus on the dark-haired white dude at the back of the stage.  Kinda funny.  The music was incredible though.  Hearing some of the tracks from Tourist performed live was worth it.

As much as I was enjoying St. Germain, I had an agenda.  An agenda that included braving the Sahara Tent crowd to see Underworld‘s entire set.

Scene: A giant tent, adorned with lights and screens on every surface.  And plenty of extra screens and lights hanging from the ceiling, for good measure.  Old-school ravers spaced far enough apart that everyone had room to do their thing.

Underworld was my #1 set of the weekend.  The usual Sahara crowd was nowhere to be seen, and Luis, Jay, and I were right near the stage with ample space to get our dance on.  And dance we did.

I don’t know what to say, other than the lasers during King of Snake were something, and the set’s apex of Rez -> Cowgirl -> Born Slippy made me a very happy person.  19-year-old me was an even happier person.

Next, I grabbed some grub and then headed for the first half of Parov Stellar and the last half of Savages.  Both were fantastic.  And intense.  But they were just the build up to the main course.

LCD Soundsystem delivered.  100%.  My feet were too store to stay all the way until 1:00am but I enjoyed every minute I managed to stay for their set.  The icing on an incredible Friday, and a day that would not be equalled the rest of the festival for me.

Saturday

Sore feet delayed my entry into the festival on Saturday, which was OK since not many of the early acts interested me.  A few of us went in for Gary Clark Jr. but it was hot and sunny at the main stage.

Scene: Giant lion statues to the rear cast shade while beer cools my stomach.  A chain link fence to the left separates me from the rich LA crowd who need to be seen in the VIP area.  A couple of guys in suit jackets and pants walk by.

Coachella finally fixed the sound in the beer gardens.  Coupled with the huge main stage screens, it was now possible to watch a set and enjoy it from either of the beer garden, so we chose the one that provided the most early afternoon shade.  And what a great choice that was.  Gary Clark Jr. sounded good and I got to enjoy the whole set without overheating.

Lush had visa issues which cancelled their weekend 1 set, so I grabbed an early supper with Bruce at the craft beer barn and then we joined others from our camp for the last half of Run the Jewels.  It was enjoyable, though not particularly memorable for me.  I then mellowed out at the first part of Bat for Lashes and then went over to the main stage to see Chvrches with Blaine.  Both were pretty much what I expected, which was to say good.

I got a good spot for Disclosure, which turned out to be a blessing and a curse.  I missed a few other things, and the crowd was so huge I was effectively trapped for their whole set.  They delivered though, opening with White Noise and predictably bringing out every guest vocalist you might expect.  This was my Saturday highlight for sure.

Scene: Eyes closed, feet up.  Reclined in a chair back at camp.  Soft snores escape the tent to my left, and a low conversation from the camp next door provides background.  My feet ache.  Despite the Advil.  Despite everything.

I was getting close to done, but I really wanted to see Guns ‘n’ Roses, so I decided to skip Ice Cube and head back to camp.  What happened instead was a little surprising.  I was dozing back at camp with my feet up, and a girl wanders into the camp next to me, obviously high, and obviously lost.  The bros camped next door invite her in for a drink and strike up a conversation.  Simultaneously, I can hear, clear as day, about half of NWA performing F*ck the Police on the main stage.  I couldn’t believe how loud it was.  The rest of Ice Cube’s set was pretty loud too, so even though I was back in camp, I don’t feel like I really missed it entirely.

Just before the end of Ice Cube, I head back in and see that all but one of the bros next door is gone.  The one that’s left is making out with the lost girl.  I decide not to say anything since it all looks consensual, and head in for the rest of the night.

Guns ‘n’ Roses was great but their set was about 30 minutes too long.  Coachella, 2.5 hours is not something that you do for a set that maybe 10,000 people want to see.  I enjoyed it, and was delighted when Angus Young came out on stage for a couple of songs.  Nice way to end the evening, and I made it all the way to 1am.  Then back to camp and straight to sleep.

Sunday

Scene: Raucous laughter punctuates the air as booze is guzzled.  Solo cups are on the table and everywhere around. The sun almost crests to its zenith.

I had grand plans to go in early and catch Girlpool.  These never materialized, and instead I hung out at camp and had beer and cocktails fitting with the “fire all the things” theme the camp had going on for Sunday.  I was a little buzzed as I headed in later in the afternoon to catch the last half of Rancid. Again, we opted for the shade of the lion statues in the beer garden and again it was a good choice.

From there, the group split, and Bruce and I checked out Pete Yorn which was great.  I had never seen him live before and it was worth it.  The group was over at Matt and Kim so we met them briefly before deciding it was time to head over to Baauer.  I had seen Matt and Kim before, so I deemed this a good plan.  Baauer for me was an odd mix of bass and the smells of coffee and sweat.  I’m sure it wasn’t actually coffee I was smelling, but that’s the sense I had.

After Baauer, we all regrouped at Chris Stapleton for a bit to chill, and then left about halfway through to get our dancing shoes on for Major Lazer.  We had a great time despite my expectations, and I credit that mostly to the group I was with rather than the music.  I needed some chill time so Bruce and I headed over to Beach House and Luis met us there.  I was enjoying the vibe so wound up staying for their whole set.  It was nice and relaxing.

After buying yet more water (my 9th and 10th bottles of the day I believe), I headed into the back of the crowd at Sia and saw just the middle of her set.  I which I had seen more, but have no regrets given how much I enjoyed Beach House and how much I wanted to get a good spot for Miike Snow.

Scene: Surrounded by 30-something year olds, not crushed, but close quarters.  Lights, lasers, sound.  Everyone is dancing and singing along.

I was a little surprised that Miike Snow was in the Mojave tent rather than the outdoor theater, but it worked out OK.  I got to the set early enough to get a good spot adjacent to the sound booth, before the crowd packed in.  And unlike Bob Moses, the crowd was completely into it.  They played what felt like far too short of a set (though it was an hour) and I and about 4000 of my closest friends danced and sang along.  They were one of my must-see acts coming into the festival, given their previous Coachella set was one of my top sets of all time, and they didn’t disappoint.  There’s no way Calvin Harris could possibly compete (and according to reviews afterwards, I was right), so I ended the night at this point, on a very high note, stopping only to buy a t-shirt on the way back to clear out the locker and hang out at camp.  As usual, I started my goodbyes Sunday night since I tend to leave early Monday, but it was a very happy mood.

Monday

Scene: Up early, packed, goodbye hugs given to the part of the camp that was awake.

It was time to leave, and as Luis and I started to roll down 806 towards main street, Bruce comes running up alongside the car for a goodbye.  I didn’t realize he was awake, and otherwise would have missed him.  A nice way to end things, before the drive home, and the nap that awaited me.

How long until next year?

A few significant new album releases have happened recently.  I’ve picked up two so far:

• Underworld – Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future
• Miike Snow – iii

And I’m looking forward to the new M83 album Junk which comes out just before the carrot festival.

The last month’s explorations of the lineup have also turned me on to a number of artists I wasn’t previously familiar with, including:

• Bat for Lashes, who has a somewhat Kate Bush-esque vibe
• Savages, who bring something unique to the post-punk music scene
• Bob Moses, who push sultry vocals over deep house beats

I’m now up to 39 acts on the lineup that I’ve rated either a “must see” or “definitely want to see”.  And that doesn’t count the ones I rate “I’d like to see” or lower.  So I’ll be pretty busy the whole weekend from the looks of things.

Can’t wait…

And no, it’s not that the game is “too hard”.  It’s hard, yes.  But that’s not the problem.

The game is a living card game, and as such, has many expansions available and more are being published all the time. I don’t mind this aspect, but it means that Fantasy Flight had two competing goals for the base game:

1. Release a complete game experience that offers interesting play and enough replayability to justify the initial purchase.  No expansions should be necessary to get something out of the game.
2. Give the players enough of a taste of what the system allows so they want to spend more money on expanding the game.  More cards, more scenarios, (more money).

The core set comes with four complete, playable decks and three scenarios.  One of the scenarios is a beginner-oriented scenario and it’s winnable even if you don’t start to build custom decks.  So far, things are looking pretty good.  With one important catch:  if you choose to play any one of the four pre-built decks solo, on standard difficulty, the scenario turns out to be extremely difficult.  Playing the exact same scenario with two of the pre-built decks in two-handed play made it into almost-a-cakewalk.

Whenever I play a game for the first time, I tend to do a solo run to make sure I understand the rules.  And since the game was marketed as a solo / two-player game, I expected the game to be reasonably balanced for solo play with one the four pre-constructed decks.  That’s clearly not the case.  And that’s my big complaint.

Fantasy Flight didn’t put quite enough effort into balancing things such that my first two solo playthroughs were even remotely fun.  Playing two-handed, I was able to see a bit more of how the game works and realize there’s a game in there.  But that’s only because the internet convinced me that solo play could actually be enjoyable if I was willing to put time into deckbuilding.  I’m totally willing to do that, but I had an expectation that I wouldn’t have to deckbuild to have an enjoyable solo experience on the introductory scenario.  In this way, Fantasy Flight let me down.

Now, I’ve got another problem.  I’m sure once I start deckbuilding, I’ll want to buy some of the expansions.  We’ll see what my wallet says when I get to that point, I guess.

Here’s my top 5 (in no real order):

• LCD Soundsystem‘s reunion should be a fantastic set.  Although I don’t generally see headliners, this is one I won’t miss.
• Underworld is an electronic act that I’ve never had the chance to see live.  This will be fixed in April.
• Mavis Staples is a bit of a one-of-a-kind act at Coachella.  She doesn’t fit the typical profile.  But then again, neither does Alabama Shakes.  A definite must-see for me, even if it means I have to crowd into a tent at 2pm.
• St. Germain is another act I’ve never seen live.  Even though his recent release isn’t on the same level as Tourist, I plan on checking it out.
• Miike Snow‘s 2012 Coachella performance was one of the best festival sets I have ever experienced.  I’m sincerely hoping for a repeat.

But in all seriousness, I have exactly zero regrets.  As my friend Shaun Chambers might say, I decided to “sous-vide that sh*t.”

This was only my second time doing roast beef sous-vide, and the first time I was gambling this much money on it.  It paid off.  Big time.  I followed a pretty basic method:

1. Season roast
2. Cook at 58ºC for just shy of 7 hours (hat-tip: Chef Steps)
3. Sear in smoking hot cast-iron pan until browned and external fat rendered

It was so delicious that there wasn’t time to take pictures.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but the fact that the entire roast, edge to edge, was a single temperature still blows my mind.  And I had all the time in the world to deal with the side dishes while the roast waited patiently for me.  I still have a lot to learn but I can already tell you that I will never grill another pork chop as long as I live.  And from this point on, I’ll probably use the circulator to poach eggs. Every. Single. Time.

So Merry Christmas to you, Anova, for making my meal unforgettable.

2925First was a stop in Huatulco.  We docked at Playa Santa Cruz, and left on our own to explore the area.  Huatulco is a resort town that was planned out by the federal government to be similar to Cancun, although it’s not yet that built up.  In addition to Playa Santa Cruz, there are a large number of other beaches, including some inside a national park, so it’s a pretty pristine coastline and well worth a visit.  We passed on the more “resort-y” area of town, and instead took a taxi into La Crucecita which felt fairly authentic as a Mexican town.  We saw the expected assortment of shops and people going about their day, including several ladies butchering and selling fresh chickens that looked really good.  I happened across a shop selling mezcal, and while we didn’t stumble into the shop, they did their best to make sure we stumbled out.  Given it was only 10am, I restricted my tasting to a handful, and eventually settled on a nice smoky, aged bottle.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it in the US, so maybe a trip back to Oaxaca is in order at some point.

Afterwards, we headed back to the beach for some swimming and cocktails.  We really enjoyed it and had a good time in general.  The locals were quite friendly and the beach wasn’t super crowded.

2945This was a bit of a contrast to Cabo San Lucas, our next stop.  Cabo is every bit an American tourist town that just happens to be located in Mexico.  It wasn’t really my style but our short stay was enjoyable.  I liken it a little to Las Vegas: if you want to party you’ll do fine, but there are limited other options available.  Deep sea fishing was definitely one of the big draws, but it’s not one of my interests.

Here, we had time enough for a brief snorkeling trip and a few cocktails, but then it was homeward bound to San Diego.

After Cabo, we had one final day at sea, and it was really the first time I felt like I wanted to be home.  In other words, 13 days on a cruise ship was just fine, but with nothing else to look forward to, the 14th day was pretty much my limit.  I have no complaints at all, and it was good to know that a longer cruise works OK for me as we contemplate future trips.  I’d definitely sail with Holland America again.  Even the few minor hiccups didn’t put any sort of a damper on the experience.  The chance to transit the Panama Canal was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, and the other stops took me to a number of new locales and gave me a good idea of where I’d enjoy exploring further.

Now I need to start saving up vacation days again…

2875I had been to Costa Rica a number of years ago, but this stop was in a different part of the country.  Still, I was reminded just how beautiful it is there, and also how well-developed it is compared to most of its neighbors.  It was the only stop where our tour bus had wifi (!), and our tour consisted of two activities.  First, a trip on a rather rickety but well-preserved train along rails that would have brought settlers from San Jose to the Pacific coast.  The brief ride was interesting and the rail cars were beautifully restored, but it was apparent that when the railroad was built, travelling it would have been quite different than it was today.  The heat and humidity were oppressive, and the multi-day trip was almost certainly difficult in times past.

Following the rail trip, we embarked on a river tour where the mangroves offered shelter to a wide range of wildlife.  For me, the highlight here was seeing several pairs of scarlet macaws in the wild, though it was nearly impossible to get a photograph of them.

2896Our next port of call was Corinto, Nicaragua.  We took a tour that brought us to a museum not far from the coast, and then into the heart of Leon, a colonial-era city.  The museum was interesting but I felt our time there was not entirely well-spent.  The museum was staffed by a high school as part of a work experience program they offered.  This is a great idea, unfortunately the student conducting the tour did not speak English.  This meant the entire tour had to be translated which took some time.  The group was also a little too large for the space which added to the awkward feeling, though overall I’m glad we made the stop.

Our brief time in Leon was centered around the Cathedral in the main square.  It’s currently in the process of being restored and repainted to a flawless white, and the views from atop the roof were stunning.  Unfortunately, the rest of the city still appeared to bear the scars of conflict.  Nicaragua’s troubled history through the 1980s is to blame for this.  Signs of poverty were also much more apparent here than our other Central American stops and it served as a sober reminder that interventionist foreign policy takes a toll on the local population, even when it is somewhat effective in achieving its stated goals.

2905Guatemala was stunningly beautiful.  Our narrow glimpse focused on the colonial city of Antigua (its current incarnation, anyways), and we definitely made the most of our time.  After the 90-minute trip into the city from the coast, we immediately made for Casa Santa Domingo, a fairly well-preserved monastery that now houses a hotel, some shops, and quite an impressive array of galleries and museums.  The grounds sprawl over multiple blocks and the foundations and walls of the original structures blend well into the rest of the complex.  We bought some chocolates at one of the shops (delicious) and spent quite a bit of time browsing the grounds and a number of the museums, well worth the price of admission.  The highlight for me was a museum that paired pre-colonial artifacts with modern glass in provocative and well-curated displays.

Following the monastery, we made our way throughout the city to take in the highlights and a bite to eat at one of the local restaurants.  We found ourselves pretty quickly inside a sprawling art gallery where a number of things caught our eye, though we didn’t make any purchases just them.  We did get their contact info and assurances that they can ship to the USA so a painting may be in our future.

After seeing a few of the other local highlights (churches, the arch, and some of the local color), I managed to secure a bottle of very good rum as we made our way back to the bus.

The brief time we had there convinced me that a longer trip is in order.  There are a few hikes I’d love to do, more of Antigua to explore, the ruins at Tikal beckon, and there’s much more as well.  Maybe in the next couple of years…

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and I’d like to highlight some of the unique experiences starting with the first two major destinations: Cartagena, Colombia and the Panama Canal itself.

2817 Cartagena was a really beautiful city.  Unfortunately we were a little late arriving and so we only had a few hours to explore the city.  As an apology for many excursions that were cancelled (including the one we had planned), Holland America offered free bus transportation to and from the old city.  This may have worked to our advantage in the end since we had time to explore the city on our own.

The city walls are still a prominent feature of the old city center, though it’s somewhat hard to imagine what things looked like when Sir Francis Drake was busy plundering visiting the city.  Aside from the expected selection of locals relentlessly peddling their wares to tourists, there ware quite a few sites to see within a small area.  We noticed quite a few jewelry shops selling emeralds, which makes sense given the location.  We also spent time in the naval museum, which was interesting partly because it was focused on the history of the city over the years and how its strategically located and sheltered port played into a number of naval battles over the years.

We also (by pure chance) stumbled across the Hard Rock Cafe.  It was cleverly and tastefully disguised within a colonial era building, and if I hadn’t noticed the sign, I wouldn’t have guessed it was there at all.

2859 The Panama Canal was truly one of the highlights of the cruise.  We had a complete daytime transit, arriving at the North end of the canal at sunrise and exiting the South end just before sunset.  The weather cooperated and we were treated to fantastic views of the entire transit and all of the lock facilities including the new ones under construction.  Proceeding just behind us (and at times, beside us) was a container ship, so we were also able to observe the operation of the locks for a ship besides our own.  It’s truly an engineering marvel even by modern standards.

Having some knowledge of the history of the canal and its construction also enhanced the experience.  The cruise ship had a number of lectures prior to entering the canal, and during the transit one of the staff members was on the ship providing commentary which added another layer to the history.  It’s interesting to imagine how things would be different if the French had succeeded in their prior effort to build a sea-level canal, although their approach had a couple of key flaws so it’s not clear it would have possibly succeeded in the long run.

I’d be curious to transit the canal again on a larger ship, once the larger set of locks is completed.

Through the Ages has been on the table 5 or 6 times now in the past 12 months or so, and the more I play it, the more I appreciate it, though I’m also beginning to understand some subtle balancing issues.  There is a new edition about to be released to the general North American market that claims to fix some of these balancing issues, and i’ve been following the information about the new edition as it has been released.  It looks like the card tweaks are in some cases substantial and in others subtle.

The biggest changes are to military power, which I’m quite curious about.  I know in our group the value of Gandhi as a leader is huge in the late game in terms of preventing massive victory point erosion, but it also depends a lot on luck of the draw.  A well-timed war can be devastating, but if you never draw the cards, it doesn’t matter.  This happened last game; 2 of the three players were weak militarily, and between us we drew virtually every war card and the impact of colonization event, so we were able to make the overwhelming military force on our doorsteps far less effective.  Also, I stockpiled a full hand of defense cards such that an aggression against me would be ineffective. The changes will definitely force me to re-think how I deal with military, and I’m looking forward to trying it.

Fury of Dracula, until recently, hadn’t hit the table in something approaching 5 years.  It’s also getting a new edition soon, though I know a lot less about the changes.  I was reminded just how good of a game this is, and everyone at the table enjoyed the experience immensely.  Hopefully I’ll play it again sooner than 5 years from now, and as a hunter next time.  I enjoy playing Dracula, but it’s also fun to hunt him down.

1. Radio is dead.  Satellite radio used to present me some new music when I was a subscriber, but discovering a new artist was a rare experience.  In the past three years, I have discovered exactly two new artists via radio play.n  I probably would have found them sooner or later via another channel.
2. Festivals (for me) are king. I discover most new artists directly or indirectly as the result of music festival buzz.  When you count things like music-festival-oriented Facebook groups and forums in this classification, this is probably 70% of my artist discoveries, and a large number of routine things like tour announcements and album releases.
3. Friends are important.  I have friends interested in a range of genres and I also participate in some Facebook groups that are music-oriented but not festival related.  While there is definite crossover with the festival category, somewhere in the 30% range of new artist discoveries result from straight friend suggestions.

The trip was short; I had a few specific errands to run, a bit of time for friends and family, and then it was back to the airport.  Still, it was just long enough that I was able to revisit my old stomping grounds and had time to reflect a bit.

Immediately upon arrival, there were a few warning signs of things that had changed.  Little things, like the fact that people don’t drive as fast in Calgary as they do in San Diego, and that the left turn signals on traffic lights are flashing arrows (here they are solid arrows).  Also, road construction.  Everywhere.  But those were pretty minor blips and they didn’t really register on a deep level.

My first real introspective moment came when I walked into my old office to meet up with my previous coworkers for lunch.  Signing in as a visitor reminded me briefly of when I interviewed for that job.  It was a stark reminder that I no longer worked there.

Catching up with everyone was great, and lunch at The Holy Smoke was just like I remembered, in a good way.  The company definitely made the meal though.

After lunch, I drove towards downtown, consciously following the exact same route I had driven many times on the way home from work.  Even the right turn on Center Street and the left turn on 15th Avenue were the same.  And as I approached my old condo building… nothing.  It was just another building.  The street was no different in reality, yet it felt sort of alien.  Not the same street I used to walk down to meet friends for tea.  Not the same sidewalk that led to the neighborhood Irish pub.

I proceeded to drive through the old neighborhood, down 17th Avenue, and that’s when the realization sunk in.  I was now a tourist.  In my old neighborhood where I lived for 6 years.  In my old city where I lived for more than a decade.  I wasn’t quite sure where I was, but it was clear it wasn’t home any longer.

I stopped at Good Earth for a tea, and as I read the menu, I’m certain confusion and dismay wrinkled my face.    Those prices can’t be right.  Wow.  Definitely not home anymore.

Tea in hand, I walked down part of 17th Avenue to see what was new.  A lot of businesses had turned over in the intervening years, with the flood undoubtedly a significant factor.  Still, there was the odd snippet of familiarity, including the window signage on a Chinese take-out place that still proudly proclaimed “the ginger beef is fantastic.”  That put a smile on my face, but it was a bittersweet feeling.

The next bittersweet moment came at Thursday game night.  With my old gaming group.  Jason had done a somewhat poor job making my presence a surprise, so nobody was really surprised I was there, though we did have a good time.  It was entirely familiar and yet my old rapport with the group felt more stilted, at least for my part.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was good to see everyone again and enjoy the camaraderie.  It was also strange in hindsight to not leave at the end of the night (I was staying with Jason who usually hosts) and that altered my final perception of the evening. Once again, things weren’t the same anymore.

The final blow was on Friday, though it was one I had prepared for mentally.  I moved away before the great flood of 2013 and while I had seen many pictures, I didn’t fully comprehend the scope of it.  I knew, academically, that my condo building was evacuated and that it had flooded.  I knew many people had significant damage to their homes and that four people were killed.  Yet it wasn’t real for me.

So, I decided to go to Elbow Falls.

I had been numerous times pre-flood, and always found the area very relaxing and refreshing.  Not so anymore.

With the picnic area completely washed away, the riverbed forever altered, large boulders and fallen trees everywhere, and a much shorter drop for the falls themselves, I had a really hard time understanding what I was seeing at first.  The bridges on the highway had been rebuilt and the parking lots were still intact, so there weren’t a lot of outward signs, but after walking about 70 feet I knew everything I needed to.

It made me feel sad to see the destruction, and yet, it was a reminder that the world gives no guarantees of permanence.  So it’s important to seize the moment and experience life.  And as I walked around I realized that I would never see the Elbow Falls I used to know again.  So I was glad to have seen it prior to the flood.  And oddly enough, despite how much it had changed, I still found solace there.  Not necessarily in the same way as I used to, yet equivalent.

I spent the remainder of the trip secure in my status as a visitor, and if anything, that made me enjoy it even more on the whole.  It also made me fully realize that my home is here in San Diego now.  And it feels good.

It’s also clear I need to work out a few more kinks in my WordPress theme, especially as they relate to photos, audio, and video.

So far, I’m pretty happy with AWS.  The performance is certainly better than with my current hosting provider, and so far I haven’t run into any issues.  Cost-wise, I’m still well within the free tier which is good for 12 months.  After that my bill won’t really be any higher than it was before.

It’s also nice to have SSH access to the box which makes maintaining my content a lot simpler.

So, I decided it was time for an overhaul.  I also used this chance to simplify the interactions and experiment with some new technologies (most notably, Angular Material).

A side effect of using Angular Material is that the site may not render in older browsers that don’t support flexbox (I’m looking at you, IE 10 and older).

It’s also using the WordPress JSON API which meant I could write the theme and make maximal use of AngularJS and write minimal PHP.  Another bonus.

Enjoy!

Tabletop Commons has opened in that space, and I have to say I am impressed.  Despite my skepticism, there seems to be a market for this kind of place even in a neighborhood like Hillcrest.  It’s always busy, to the point where getting a table on a Saturday night can be difficult.

So far I’ve been twice, and enjoyed both experiences.  They have very reasonably priced drinks especially for the neighborhood, and don’t charge anything to play games (as long as you’re spending money).  I have not yet tried the food but it looks good from what I can tell.

Their game library is also pretty impressive.  Covering everything from Bang to Fluxx to Ticket to Ride to Power Grid to Fortress America and all points in between.  I’m genuinely surprised at the breadth it covers, since I would have expected a more definite slant in the casual / short duration direction.  There are a number of games on their shelves that can easily run into the 5 hour range.

So far it’s been a fun way to try out some new stuff without having to buy it.  In particular, I’ve tried two new (to me) games:

First, I tried Machi Koro, a light tableau building / dice rolling game.  It’s OK for what it is, but it seems like there are definite power plays that tilt the game, and it’s so luck driven it almost feels like whoever can buy those few overpowered cards the quickest is all but guaranteed to win.  Overall I enjoyed it but it won’t be joining my library since I don’t really feel like it meets my bar for repeated plays.

Second, I tried Cryptozoic’s Archer: The Danger Zone more because I enjoy the TV series and wanted something light and fast to play.  I generally feel like Cryptozoic’s games are poorly designed and uninteresting, but even for them this was pretty awful.  I can tolerate the occaisional luck-fest but this was too much. The theme would have been the only saving grace for this game if they had made any effort to really bring it out more.  I was trying to encourage my game partner to get into the theme more, so we could extract some more fun out of it, but that was definitely a challenge even though we both love the TV series.  So this is also a pass for me.

That said, I’m not sure I would have ever tried either of the two had it not been for Tabletop Commons, and so on the whole I view it as a net positive.  I’ll definitely be back.