Puzzle Me This

Hmm, guess there's a reason the Batman franchise went with "the Riddler" instead of "the Puzzler", eh?

Lately some of my friends and I have been working on puzzles, and I'm loving it.

Such a great way to spend time together, catch up on conversation, and have some laughs.

Plus I imagine it's probably good for our brains to be analytic and figuring out how the pieces connect.
But that is just me spitballing on bonus effects of our fun nights around a table.

This 1,000-piecer took several evenings of effort:


Always fun and satisfying putting in the last piece.
I'm pretty sure Ryan hid this one so he could "find" it right at the end.


This little guy was only 500 pieces, and we hammered through it in a couple hours with the help of a few more friends than on the last one.

My family does puzzles at Christmas, and that's a tradition we've done ever since back when my grandma lived in Montana and we'd drive up to spend the holiday at her house.

I'm happy to start a new tradition of puzzling with some friends here in SLC.

Who else wants to join in the rip-roaring fun?

The Watermelon Football Slashing of 2013

Last night I went to a pool party that my friend Afton hosted at her apartment complex.

Lots of cool people came, and we started playing watermelon football in the pool.
If you haven't played it ever, you need to try it next time you have the opportunity.

So fun.

If you've never played, here's an example I found on YouTube:

At one point, I was on the receiving end of a pass and was being covered by a girl named Ingrid.
She was out of position, and she went for grabbing my shoulders instead of playing the ball (an understandable move, and I'd have done the same thing).

Let's just say that she didn't get a firm grip on my shoulders, and her hands subsequently slipped down my back, with her fingernails leaving me some souvenirs to remember the game later.

She felt bad about her handiwork, but was a good sport for the pic

Yeah, I'm gonna be feeling those trophies for a few days until they heal up.

PS If you want to eat watermelon after the game, buy a second watermelon. The first will definitely explode in the heat of battle.

Monopoly Murder: One Will No Longer Pass Go

If you didn't hear, they killed off an old Monopoly token and put a new one in its place.

Voting was to decide which of these would be removed from the game:

The current pieces

The loser was the iron (announcement video), which isn't too surprising to me, since I can't think of any time in my whole life that someone was voluntarily the iron while playing.

In addition, fans were allowed to vote for which of these five would take the iron's place:

The new options

The replacing honor went to none other than the cat (announcement video).

Honestly, I don't mind losing the iron, but having a cat instead?! We already have a dog!
None of the new options were that great, in my opinion, but I guess the voters have spoken.

Anyone have 6-8 spare hours and want to spend it playing a game of Monopoly with me?

Angry Birds + Star Wars? I Blame Disney

I read this CNN article today, and I'm a bit dismayed by it.

Really?! A Star Wars version of Angry Birds?

Has Disney already started bastardizing the Star Wars brand, barely over a week into its ownership?

Or maybe I just don't like Angry Birds, and I'd rather they made a Star Wars version of Carcassonne and/or Settlers of Cataan instead...

Aw, who am I kidding?
It's got Star Wars in the title, so I'll at least give it a shot.

You win another round, Disney.
But some day I'll have will power... some day.

Flashback Friday: ColecoVision

The header to my blog used to mention some influences from my youth, like the movies Sandlot and Labyrinth. Now my header is more brief, so people can get right to the meat of posts.

In order to hearken to the olden days, I'd like to start a series that will highlight topics from my childhood.
It will be called Flashback Friday, and will be posted on, you guessed it, Fridays.

To start, I was thinking the other day about my family's first video game console.

ColecoVision.

Did you have a ColecoVision? Or did your friend from Mrs. Jensen's 3rd grade class have one?
Perhaps you're too young to remember anything before Nintendo, or even SuperNintendo?

It looked like this:

Yes, now it looks positively archaic. But it was cutting edge at the time.

It made having an arcade game possible in your very own home. No more dropping quarter after quarter into that slot, wasting all the loot you earned by taking out the trash and drying dishes.

And I think I can speak for the whole Smyth family when I say we loved the Smurf game the most.

Not The Smurfs or even Smurfs, but simply Smurf.

Over the past 20+ years, I'm sure my mind has greatly romanticized the quality of gameplay.

In fact, playing it now would probably frustrate me to no end.
Those stupid fences, stalactites/stalagmites, and bats always got me.
But I'd also love every second of it.

Memories can do that. Even if technology has been innumerable improvements, those memories still make the experience wonderful and exciting.

Anybody got an old ColecoVision laying around that I could borrow?

If you have any suggestions for other Friday Flashback material, I'd love to include them.
And believe me, I've got a bunch already listed out to start with. This will be a fun trip down memory lane.

Metallica Monday (PvZ Edition): Creeping Death

Special theme for this week's Metallica Monday: Plants vs Zombies.

My brother Adam and my nephew Gunner introduced me to this game, and I'm hooked.

It's incredibly fun using plants of varying skills, defenses, and attacks to repel hundreds of zombies coming by land, air, and sea. Well, it's more swimming pool than sea, but that doesn't sound as cool.

Beyond the action of the game, the scenes between levels also have some great humor. For example:

So make sure you've got plenty of sunflowers so you can plant corn cob missile launchers and lots of spikeweeds, because if you don't, the zombies will eat your brains!

All these zombies reminded me of the song I chose for this edition of Metallica Monday:

Creeping Death
I found this YouTube video where they dubbed the song over Ten Commandments clips, which is an extra bonus since this song was inspired by the Biblical account of Moses and the first Passover.

Great video with a great song, isn't it?

So watch out for the creeping death of the plagues and zombies this week!

I Don't Play Video Games Anymore, But...

Getting something like this in my inbox really make me consider starting up again.

Seriously, this ad for Call of Duty: Black Ops: Rezurrection makes me want to call some friends up and join forces in using Gatling guns, flamethrowers, and RPG launchers to mow down hordes of zombies all night and into the wee morning hours.

I have no idea how they got my email, but I don't mind getting sweet, adrenaline-pumping action like this.

Kind of like how I briefly consider seeing movies along the "Killer Elite" vein, even though I already know it's just a bunch of unrealistic fight scenes, car chases, and explosions with a loose plot to string them together. Just based on the name, I'd almost go see it. "Killer Elite?" Yes, please! (Check out the trailer [here] if you need a little convincing and don't have any limiting heart-health issues.)

Oh marketers, you know me too well.

PS If anyone is up for Mario Kart, Goldeneye: 007, Super Tecmo Bowl, Tetris, or Duck Hunt, count me in anytime. Those babies just keep getting better with age. Guitar Hero and Rock Band work, too.

PPS While I've never had the urge to play World of Warcraft, I am greatly tempted by the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Old Republic. (Game trailer [here].)