I want to vent some frustration about a TV series. Make no mistake: This is a meaningless fanboy rant. However, it's a rant that comes from love. Star Trek has been a part of my life for decades. I'm old enough to have seen episodes of the original series (TOS) when they first aired. The ideas and…
This is another of my game reviews written long after a review would be relevant. Dredge is a fishing game. Like most such games, your main sequence of actions is to go out onto the water, reel in some fish, return to port to sell them, make improvements to your boat so you can fish better. Repeat…
Back in 2012, I wrote about the gravestones of two dogs buried on the estate of where I work, Nevis Laboratories. What little I know about them are in that post. I took those photos in 2012. In 2015, I wrote a follow-up post about how it's become harder to keep a clear path to those graves.…
For my gamer friends: While falling down an internet rabbit hole, I found this article on a history of wargaming. I recommend reading it, if only to learn about the rise-and-fall of an important segment of gaming. The article was written by Greg Costikyan in 1996. I knew Greg briefly in the late 70s or early 80s.…
June 19th is Adaption Day in my household. It's the anniversary of the date when I bought two little kittens, Jiku and Shuba, into my home. I celebrated last year with a post with cute cat pictures. I see no reason not to repeat the custom this year. Jiku and Shuba wish you a happy Adoption Day!
This is a collection of photos from when I unboxed my copy of the Great Wall board game by Awaken Realms. This post is not a game review; I haven't played it yet and I don't usually review board games on this blog. I just wanted to share some pictures for those who might be interested in…
tlhIngan Hol vIHaDtaH qaStaHvIS Hutvatlh jaj = I have studied the Klingon language for nine hundred days. This is a follow-up to my 800 Days of Klingon and my Two years of Klingon lessons essays. I still have the impression that the older, deleted form of Duolingo's Klingon course was superior. As I predicted, I've hit some…
Roughly in 1994, I wrote a computer program to compute the dates of the Full Moon. I originally did this to help schedule Wicca meetings; we like to meet on the Full Moon. I put the tables on the web because, in the mid-1990s, this kind of astronomical information was not readily available to members of the…
Well, I got a bit closer this time. I unpacked all the seder gear that had been sitting in my closet since last year (and before that had been sitting there since 2003). I actually set up the seder table (which was my gaming table, of course): I won't go into the details as I did last…
Every once in a while, I wonder if I'm overreacting to the whole "potential for long COVID" thing by continuing my strong isolation. My primary-care physician definitely thinks I am. Then I see this: I watched Physics Girl on YouTube. Even though I'm a physicist, Dianna Cowern often asked questions that challenged me. I usually learned something…