Dice Masters: Trinity War Story Line Event 2

For the Fourth of July weekend, J and I went to our second Dice Masters tournament--the second event in the Trinity War Story Line. The event did not include any flavor text so we still don't know anything about the Trinity War, though a synopsis can be found here. It's a DC storyline from a couple of years ago involving three DC superhero groups (maybe that's the trinity?). I may check the library to see if they have it in a trade paperback.

The  tournament was held in our favorite game story, The Family Game Store in Savage Mill. J and I were half the competitors again and wound up with another truckload of dice and cards since we share all our Dice Masters stuff between us.

Dice by the dozen

After the rainbow draft we each wound up with some good cards. I fielded a mostly Justice League team, which worked well since I had an Aquaman card that let me buy other JL characters for one less energy cost. The other cool card I had was a Constantine card that let me guess a character die I was going to draw out of my bag. If I drew that character and rolled a character side, I could field the character for free. That came in very handy and even saved me at the end of the first game. I wound up winning the tournament.

J did not do so well. He won his final game, so he ended on a high note. Also, he won a fellowship award for helping the guy he was playing against in the first round. That guy was a new comer and J taught him so well that the guy won!

We came away with a tournament Constantine card (in addition to the super-rare card that I drafted) and the House of Mystery action card. We did some trading as well and I got the Flash super-rare by offering up a bunch of Marvel heroes and dice.

Best of the new cards

It was fun and I realize this is a good way to fill out a collection. We'll keep our eyes open for the next Trinity War event and maybe a Marvel event if we can find one.

Movie Review: Thor The Dark World (2013)

Thor The Dark World (2013) directed by Alan Taylor

An ancient enemy of Asgard threatens to attack again--the Dark Elves. They ruled the universe long ago when darkness was supreme and they want to turn out the lights for the rest of the universe now. Odin's father had beaten them 5000 years ago when the nine worlds aligned and their power was at its height. Now another alignment is coming and the elves are back to their old tricks. Thor is ready to fight along with his usual compatriots but when as things go from bad to worst, he has to rely on his scheming evil brother Loki.

The plot is very generic and surprises are mostly not surprising. The Dark Elves are not very interesting as villains because they lack any character or menace to them (in spite of the fact they want to destroy the universe!). They look like "baddies of the week" from Star Trek or Doctor Who (which may be a subliminal thing for me since their leader is played in heavy prosthetics by Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston--I recognized his voice about half way through). Loki is easily the best thing about the film. His schemes are interesting and Tom Hiddleston plays him with panache. The other actors are good but the script doesn't give them much to work with. Chris O'Dowd from The IT Crowd has a fun cameo and there are other laugh out loud lines, but not as much as in the first Thor movie. The chemistry between romantic leads Thor and Jane Foster is weak (though she does look cute in Asgardian armor!). The ending promises some interesting possibilities in the next movie, so I'm not giving up hope, but I can't recommend this film unless you're a Marvel completionist.

Laurel Farmers Market

We visited the Laurel Farmers Market on a Thursday in June. They are open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. from June to the end of October. It's been running for many years and is nestled into an empty lot on the 300 block of Main Street.

Laurel Farmers Market

Our first stop was Dolce, the Italian Ice stand. L had a choice between mango, cherry, and rainbow flavor. She loves mango pops at home, so naturally she chose rainbow flavor. She'll try different things if they are ice-cream-like desserts, especially if they are colorful. She loved it a lot and shared one spoonful with me and one little taste for N.

By the sign

By the stand

Granny was with us and took advantage of the massage stand for a quick adjustment.

A refreshing massage

We finally hit a farm stand. We bought some squash, green beans, and cherries.

A farmer's market stand!

The farm from which our veg came

The market also had a food vendor, but since we were there at 10 a.m. we didn't eat anything.

Food vendor

As a bonus, I took a picture of a cool looking bank nearby.

Cool bank

Book Review: Avengers Rage of Ultron by Rick Remender et al.

Avengers Rage of Ultron written by Rick Remender, art by Jerome Opena with Pepe Larraz

The Avengers battle Ultron over the years in this book. Many years ago, they fought in Manhattan where Ultron is eventually trapped in a Quinjet and sent off into space. Before he goes, he has a bit of a heart-to-heart talk with Hank Pym (who is the hero Yellow Jacket at this point, though he was Ant-man before). Pym built Ultron and put either too much of himself in or not enough. Ultron is a homicidal robot motivated by contempt of humans for their insufficiency. Pym, in classic Marvel style, has a history of being scientifically proficient but also being constantly teased and belittled for his abilities. He's got an inferiority streak coming from self-doubt and emotional pain. A robot doesn't have emotions and doubt can be left out, so Ultron is a dark reflection of his "father" Pym. Ultron sees the inferiority of humans without any check on his actions. So he's got to go.

Jumping to the present, Ultron has taken over a distant planet and is coming back to Earth to take over there (as well as the rest of the universe, eventually). Pym (now Giant-Man) invents a device that will delete the Ultron A.I., effectively killing Ultron and possibly everyone he's infected (that's a whole alien planet for starters). The Avengers debate the morality of using the device as Ultron approaches. Pym is strongly in favor but the Vision (an android built by Ultron who has rejected his creator as evil) argues against it. Vision sees himself as an A.I. who could also be expendable. The Avengers don't kill people, even bad guys, let alone the possible killing of a planet's population as collateral damage (maybe). Ultron shows up and, in classic Marvel style, the Avengers continue the debate as they fight against him.

The book is an extended meditation on Hank Pym's character as a brilliant scientist and a troubled person who struggles to overcome his feelings of inadequacy. That struggle is thrown in high relief as he deals with Ultron and tries to make others see things his way. I found the ending very moving and satisfying.

Recommended.

Book Review: Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

In the far distant future, an academic, Paul Bentley, moves to Columbia University in New York City for the summer because he'd like to teach a skill he has recently discovered--reading. The head of the University is Bob Spofforth, a Make Nine robot. Make Nines were top of the line, able to run multi-national corporations and dictate global policies. He's been around for hundreds of years, so unlike his human counterparts on the faculty, he knows what reading is. He's intrigued and has Paul come, though the robot has an ulterior motive. He wants Paul to translate title cards from early 20th century silent films, an odd project that Paul happily begins. Spofforth's mechanical brain was patterned after a human brain, though the personal memories were taken out. Spofforth has occasional dreams that he thinks are memories from that human and hopes those memories will manifest themselves if he knows more about ancient human life.

In his spare time, Paul explores New York City. The citizens are typical for the age. They have a heightened sense of privacy, so much so that they barely make eye contact, let alone have conversations with other people. Humans are constantly taking drugs to feel no pain, which may be understandable since they seem to have little meaningful work. Robots do the manual work as well as services industry jobs. The local fast food joint has a Make Two behind the counter who is rather oblivious to people who burn themselves to death in the booths. Suicide by immolation is disturbingly common.

Paul's exploration takes him to the zoo, where he discovers an odd woman. Mary Lou is there all the time--she lives there, "off the grid" as we'd say nowadays. No drugs, no smoking. Her big vice is pilfering sandwiches from a vending machine. Paul invites her back to his campus apartment where he teaches her to read. It's an awkward situation at first as it violates the social idea of privacy. If Spofforth or others find out they will be in big trouble. Of course, reading is technically a crime (though nobody else knows how to do it), so they are in constant danger from that too.

The book is a fascinating hybrid of Fahrenheit 451 and Children of Men (did I mention there are no humans under the age of thirty?), though it certainly stands on its own. The vision of hedonistic culture leading humans into a solipcistic and consumerist mess is well thought out and completely fascinating. Robots were developed as labor saving devices but have apparently taken over almost every job. Supposedly people are free to pursue more worth-while goals like personal development but 99 per cent are just wandering from meaningless pleasure to meaningless pleasure. The bleakness of the story is tempered by the ultimate resolution of of the three main character's journeys. This book is well worth hunting down (I had to get it through inter-library loan) and reading.

For deeper commentary on the book, check out A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #110.

TV Review: Broadchurch Series Two (2014)

Broadchurch Series Two created by Chris Chibnall

After the harrowing investigation of the death of a eleven-year old Daniel Latimer in the English coastal town of Broadchurch in the first series, the second series focuses on the trial of the guy who confessed to the crime. In the first episode, he enters his plea: not guilty. Everyone (including his defense attorney) is surprised. New legal teams are brought in for both sides. The defense has a win-at-all-costs young lawyer who is rather cynical about the justice system (with many reasons revealed through subsequent episodes). The prosecution has an older female barrister from Broadchurch come out of retirement to win one last case for the hometown. Sparks fly and more secrets are revealed as they spar over the truth and the possibilities of what happened the night of Daniel Latimer's death.

Meanwhile, new developments are happening in Alec Hardy's (well played by David Tennant) previous case, the one where things fell apart and it drove him to Broadchurch as a refuge. The prime suspect is back in the country and is trying to find his wife, who's been hiding in a cottage provided by Hardy. The old case starts to blow wide open, giving Hardy a chance to redeem himself for the botched case. Like the Broadchurch case, Hardy's case is much more complicated than it seems.

The acting and writing are excellent again, as is the cinematography. Viewers will have an easy time getting sucked into watching multiple episodes in one evening. The show does have one surprise relationship come up at the end that felt like shoe-horning in some politically correct content rather than actually contributing to the story or the theme. Otherwise this is a great show and a worthy successor to the first series.

Cub Scout Day Camp 2015--Days Four and Five

J's adventures at the Cub Scout Day Camp 2015 concluded with two more days of challenges and fun. (See Day One and Days Two and Three).

On Thursday, they were back on the BB range with this result for J:

Three shots across the top

Considering his lack of experience, this impressed me quite a bit. He may be asking for a BB gun for Christmas, we'll see if he remembers by then.

They went back to Geology where they cracked open geodes. J brought the broken rocks home for us to admire.

Geode insides

At STEM (that's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math for those not up on the latest educational lingo), they did the Engineering part and built paper airplanes. J's made it all the way home!

An engineering marvel

The pictures from Tuesday came in, with a very nice shot of J and a fun group picture of his den mates and leaders.

Two pictures in one

Close up of J

On Friday, I was back on site helping out and taking pictures. The den's first stop was the archery range, where J showed marked improvement over Wednesday.

Getting help from a range assistant

Getting ready to shoot

Get that elbow up!

A slain target

We went to Fitness where J and his mates tried out tug-of-war, races, and sharks and minnows.

Crab-walk race with many different kinds of crabs!

Ga Ga Ball was next, popular as always. It was paired with life-sized Foosball, which J also tried. His team had a tied score, 1-1.

Ga Ga Ball again!

Scouts playing foosball

After lunch, we went back to the Craftsman station, where the scouts tried out leather working. With some careful instruction, they personalized leather bookmarks.

J stamping letters onto his bookmark

The finished product

At Whittling, they did more work on their bars of soap, crafting a fish. It was tough work but enjoyable too.

J whittling

Take-home--knife, strop, and carving

The final station was Showmanship, where the boys played charades and learned about stage directions (e.g. stage left, up stage, etc.).

The closing ceremonies were delightfully short and the camp leader announced next years theme--Construction! We are looking forward to Day Camp in 2016!