Hey, didn't you drop off the face of the Earth?

Yes. Yes, I did.

Seattle

Space Needle: 848 steps to the top? Call me when you're serious, Seattle.

Very pretty town though. Lots of interesting nature stuff right close, and you can get just about anywhere in twenty minutes or less. The waterfront market is cool, there's lots of shopping, a brewery, two stadiums, and tons of good places to eat.

I highly recommend it. Moreso if you have some say in when you get to leave.

SFM

Deserving its own header, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame is absolutely amazing. They have just an unbelievable range of stuff on hand. The only model of the Death Star from Episode 4; Captain Kirk's chair; a Fremen stillsuit; Hicks' body armour and helmet. Letters, manuscripts, storyboards, awards. Just, wow.

I got a new mug, and a t-shirt, and Captain Kirk's Guide to Women.

Crazy

Things have been ridiculous. There was, as I obliquely referred to above, the whole thing where I was unexpectedly deployed for an unfortunately extended period to the opposite coast. But the part where they flew my wife out to me for the long weekend? That was pretty sweet. Still, it's a long time to be gone.

And the crazy has just kept on coming. For the foreseeable future, no doubt. I think that's just how it's going to go.

Guess I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

Space Hulk

So I got a copy of the new, limited-edition, super nice Space Hulk. So far I've gotten in two gaming sessions. The first was with Prime and Mr W, whose sobriquet I can't recall at the moment (did I mention I'm sleep deprived?). We played 3 games, so each person got to play as the marines once and the stealers once, doing Mission I all three times. It was awesome.

Serdic has the crown for ass-kicking in that game, though, after we played a scenario in which two squads of 5 marines have to make it across a table with Stealer entry points all around and exit from the opposite end of the board. At the end the marine player rolls a dice and, if he rolls equal to or less than the number of marines who got out, he wins. (That's right. Comes down to a dice roll. Game on.)

Memorable moments include using his assault cannon gunner to suppress half the damn board until the guy ran out of ammo, and then using his heavy flamer to barbeque the room the gunner was in, killing him in the process, to deny an access route to the alien hordes. Stone cold. The bastard got 2 guys off the board and then rolled a 1 for a win. High fives all around.

Space Hulk: the only board game that can give you a heart attack.

Stuff Upcoming

This weekend we're off to the Greek's trailer to partake of the peace and quiet. I devoutly hope that I get some of both.

Lots of stuff coming up awfully fast. Serdic's nuptials. RJA's triumphant return. Prime's ongoing equivocation as to the exact nature of his living arrangements being decided.

Oh, and the whole fam-damily is getting together for Thankingsgiving. Eight adults, four dogs and a turkey. Good times.

Stay tuned.