Painting Middle Earth

May 21, 2020August 2, 2021Leave a comment

I snagged an old copy of Middle Earth Quest sometime last year and knew I’d want to eventually paint the plain, dark gray plastic miniatures to bring them to life – before actually playing the game of course! Well, I finally got around to painting them over the past week or two. This is my first time painting miniatures but with tips across the web on everything from priming and base-coating to layering, washing and dry brushing, they came out pretty well.

Okay, so now we can have some adventures in Middle Earth.

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Next up, painting the Mayan calendar gears from Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar.

Santa Cruz Rainbow

March 24, 2020July 14, 2020Leave a comment

A gorgeous full rainbow (and a glimpse of the secondary) from the house today:

Empty Shelves

March 20, 2020July 24, 2020Leave a comment

We were in Tahoe over the last week and had yet to see any signs of stockpiling in response to Covid-19, but here it is in Scotts Valley at Nob Hill Foods on March 16th, one day ahead of the Bay Area “shelter-in-place” order going into effect. Luckily we had already stocked up on non-perishables in preparation a couple of weeks ago.

Colorado Ski Week

March 12, 2020March 12, 2023Leave a comment

This year, Jon, Bill, Kat, Jim, Stan and I hit up Beaver Creek and Vail in Colorado for our annual week of skiing and board gaming. We started off the week with the remnants of a heavy snow storm (as in heavy, wet snow) for a rough first day full of new and old moguls. It was also pretty cold with highs in the teens. As the following day promised to be much colder, we all sheltered indoors for a day of gaming including Sushi Go Party, Chinatown, Bang!, King of New York, Instinct, Cheaty Mages, For Sale, and the card game version of Shadows over Camelot. The following days turned warmer and even sunny and blue skies at times so we were happy to venture out and explore the slopes again.

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Who Needs New Snow?

February 21, 2020October 14, 2020Leave a comment

It’s been a pretty dry January and February for snow in Tahoe, but we got the gang together at the Tahoe house for an early February weekend all the same. Darlene and I joined Greg, Erin & Merritt for a sunny Saturday at Squaw Valley and then Resi, Troy & Aiden at Homewood for a very windy Sunday. But it would seem the wind didn’t slow down Aiden at all…

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Carrizo Plain National Monument

February 1, 2020May 5, 2024Leave a comment

After getting the Traveling Cat Adventure Vehicle back from the repair shop (following my close encounter with a falling tree limb), Darlene and I decided to get in another little road trip. I found Carrizo Plain National Monument initially as looking like a nice layover point on our planned way to Joshua Tree National Park, but we ended up deciding to spend our four days just there, exploring the hills and valley.

Carrizo Plain is probably most known for many illustrative pictures of the San Andrea fault cutting across many old creek beds and showing how quickly (geologically) the two plates are moving past each other. It’s also home to some once elaborate Native American rock paintings, at “Painted Rock”. Here’s some great side-by-side images showing the terrible damage these rock paintings have been subjected to over the last century.

In the spring, the valley and foothills are often covered in a brilliantly varied carpet of wildflowers. (See this image search for examples.)

Besides these sights, we got in some hiking, drone-flying and general exploring. I also brought along my newly acquired digital imaging telescope from Unistellar to see what it can do.

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New Years Day Gaming

January 2, 2020July 22, 2024Leave a comment

We gathered fifteen gamers for a full day of gaming this New Years Day!

I joined Greg and Erin and GregToo! as we drank and caroused until just Erin was left standing at the Red Dragon Inn, and then Dan and Luno joined with us to just barely vanquish evil in a desperate game of Shadows Over Camelot. Troy, Roland and Nacho fought over the solar system in The Expanse; Darlene, Lynette, Jacobi, Molly and John worked to defeat the monsters in Horrified and then later collected birds and bird eggs in Wingspan. Nacho, Troy and Roland then competed to build up their cities in Machi Koro. Nacho, John, and Dan joined me for more endeavors in the industrial eras of Brass: Birmingham while Darlene, Greg and Luno explored the worlds of Above and Below and Roland, Jacobi, Molly and Lynette weaved histories of civilizations in Tapestry. After dark Roland, Greg, Luno, Lynette and Elizabeth gathered gems in Century: Golem Edition and then we all finished off the night in a six-way, cobblestone-filled bike race of Flamme Rouge.