Bits and Things

I has been a while so I will dump some random stuff into one catch-all post (I'll have to save the Getaway to Cigar Town for another post unto itself).

Been playing lots of Worlds of Warcraft and watching season 2 of Doctor Who. I can't get enough of the new Doctor Who series. I'm about half way through and I've made the adjustment to the Tenth Doctor. It was slightly rough at first but its working out for the best. He certainly dresses more like The Doctor than the Ninth, who I always thought was a bit to fashionable. Ten seems to be channeling Rowan Atkinson on occasion, which is strange or very purposeful considering. I just finished the Cybermen episodes. While they looked pretty pokey, they didn't fail to creep me out. Same with the Daleks; pokey but pretty menacing.

Speaking of “ten,” I've also been watching Cartoon Network's Ben Ten. Sure it's formulaic and the titular Ben is a bit of a jerk, but it's got a lot going for it: cool gadget, cool aliens and a great theme song (A good theme song goes a long way. This one and Doctor Who's I listen to every time. I have to skip over BSG's warbling). And Grandpa Max, who I am sure is some sort of former MIB.

Last Saturday The Cat and I went to an antique mall; not sure why really, we were passing and figured what the hell. The last time we were in this particular mall I had such a horrific allergy attack from the dust and mold. This time nothing except yawning from the boredom.

It's not a very exciting place but I did manage to find a real treasure: Put 'n Take dice. Many of my father's NYC relatives played this simple dice game and I used to play it with them when I was young. It consists of 2 dice, one with P's and T's on it and the other numbered 1, 2, 3 and All. It's a gambling game so you need to have some pennies or matchsticks or tokens or whatever. To start, everyone antes up to the pot. The players take turns rolling the dice and doing what they say: either putting or taking 1, 2, 3 or All tokens from your pool or the pot. There might be other rules but I can't seem to remember any. I suppose when you are out of tokens your out of the game (which could happen with a simple “Put All” roll. Hey, life's rough). I have vague memories of playing with my parents and grandparents after dinner for hours.

Next time Barnelia and Cecil are around we will play and drink anisette and espresso. My pa and kin are of the Italian persuasion; I can't think of anything more Italian than anisette and espresso (involving tiny cups and tiny spoons) except perhaps downing cannolis and calling in a mob hit.

I'm not sure what happened to THE family set of Put 'n Take dice after my grandmother passed away. I sure hope my father saved them. I still need to snag a copy of Cosmic Wimpout (Check out the tournament poster, those cats look like they are having a blast!) Now there is another fun dice game.

The Cat continues to forward me attacks on Kristen Bell's fashion sense. I don't care what she wears in “real” life, just that season 2 of Veronica Mars is on DVD. While the first season was great, I am a bit skeptical on how the second will hold my attention since most of the major bits were resolved.

Damnit! I wanted to write a harangue about management stuff after hearing Barnelia's horrific, yet amusing, stories of work. Perhaps next time.

Oh and . . .

Watch the Skies!