A month without posts

Yes I failed! I had more than a month without any posts and quite frankly I do not have any type of excuse other than procrastination and alcohol.

Lately the hubby and I have been playing as many board games as possible with friends. While I have always loved playing board games I blame Wil Wheaton for this renewed obsession. Back in May I posted about a game (Ticket to Ride)I saw on Wil Wheaton's YouTube show TableTop.

I posted on Facebook my interest in this game and the hubby and I rekindled some old friendships. I can say that spending Saturday nights playing board and card games with friends has been amazing. I have played some fantastic games and had some great times.

Thanks to Wil Wheaton and our friends Steve and Genie (who by the way makes a mean cupcake) I have found out that there is fun to be had beyond Monopoly. Don't get me wrong Monopoly will always have a place in my heart, but as my brother says the games are long and eventually someone tosses the game board over in anger.

Most of the games I play now play in a short(ish) amount of time and some are even cooperative. I thought I would share some of the games I have played and/or bought. Mind you I am sure anyone who is an avid gamer probably already knows all about these games, but for those who are like me here goes:

Bang!

Saboteur

Zombicide


Board Game Geek is a great resource if you want more information on some of these games.

Needless to say in the last couple of months I have purchased many games. I will post more of my favorites as time permits, but until then VIVA Gaming!


-Mercedes

SutterInk: SEASON 5 PREMIER CHALLENGE

I know for a FACT that I have gotten at least 5 or more people to watch this show.. The truth is, if you haven't seen it, you should. The show is phenominal! It is well written and the characters are believeable. I have spent more than one night yelling at my TV things like "What are you thinking Jax?" or "F&#!ng Clay"... Spread the word kiddies, SOA is THE show to watch!

SutterInk: SEASON 5 PREMIER CHALLENGE: I'm doing it again bitches.  Can you make my motherfucking dreams come true and party with the SONS like it's 1967 ? W ith every passi...

Ticket to Ride

I consider my self to be Geek Chic, but the truth is I am probably more Geek than Chic. I have always loved games. I love video games, I love board games, I love card games, well you get the picture. Growing up I was constantly trying to find a victim player who was willing to play Monopoly with me.

Now let's fast forward many, many years later. I got married to a wonderful man who loves video games, but doesn't like to play other types of games. It could be he just doesn't like playing with me since I have been known to be competitive. For the last few years I have only played board games or card games with anyone but my husband, until recently. I subscribe to a great YouTube channel called Geek & Sundry.

On one of Geek and Sundry's episodes of TableTop, hosted by Wil Wheaton, he introduced me to a fabulous game called Ticket to Ride. All I had to do was show my hubby the video and not only was he willing to give the game a shot, but he ended up loving it!

Ticket to Ride was easy to learn (due in part to Wil Wheaton's video), fun to play, exciting, and the hubby loved it as much as I did. Playing with just two can be fun, but definitely the more people you have the more exciting the game is. The one thing I can say is that Ticket to Ride can be pricey. The best price I have seen for Ticket To Ride has been on Amazon.com.

I thought I would share some info about Ticket to Ride.

Overview:
Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure in which players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America.

The longer the routes, the more points they earn.

Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway.

• 2-5 Players
• Age 8+
• 30-60 minutes

Object of the game:
The object of the game is to score the highest number of total points. Points can be scored by:


Claiming a Route between two cities on the map;
Successfully completing a Continuous Path of routes between two cities listed on your Destination Ticket(s);
Or by completing the Longest Continuous Path of routes.
Points are lost if you do not successfully complete the route given on your Destination Ticket(s).

Game Turn:
In Ticket to Ride, there are three possible actions a player can take during the game turn:

• Drawing Train Car Cards
• Claiming a Route between two cities on the board
• Drawing additional Destination Tickets that will earn extra points if completed by the end of the game.

Ticket to Ride Versions Available:

• USA
• Europe
• Märklin (German)
• Nordic Countries
• Card Game
• Map Collection: Asia and India
• Expansions: 1910 (USA), 1912 (Europa), Dice Expansion, Alex & Dexter
• Ticket to Ride (Online Game)

Items of Interest:

 

Links of Interest:
Geek & Sundry (YouTube Channel)
Geek & Sundry (Website)
Ticket to Ride (Days of Wonder Website)

TableTop
Ticket to Ride: Wil Wheaton, Colin Ferguson, and Anne Wheaton

Movie Reviews and Pre-Orders

I feel terrible. I have left my 3 followers without updates for 15 days. You know if I wanna do this blog thing right i need to be on here much more often. Since my last post. Today I hope to share my thoughts on some movies, and soon I will be talk about a book trilogy that has been trending like crazy.

Let's start with some movies:

Dark Shadows - Let me start by saying that I always love any collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. You put both of these highly creative people together and you are guaranteed greatness.  Dark Shadows was a little more difficult for me to get through than most of their other works. I blame this on the fact that I had never seen an episode of the series.I am almost positive that some of the jokes that went over my head were because they were in reference to the original series. I highly suggest watching an episode or two if you want to grasp these jokes, otherwise there was plenty of other comedy to enjoy.  One of my favorite moments is when Depp, who plays Barnabas has risen from his long slumber underneath a glowing golden arches sign, which he says as the sign of the devil Mephistopheles.

Items of interest:


The Dictator - Sasha Baron Cohen never ceases to amaze me with how far he is willing to go for his craft. Cohen made me laugh quite a bit throughout the movie. The only true problem with the movie, is after you have seen Borat or Bruno you have seen it all. Many of the jokes were expected. I will say my favorite part of the movie was the soundtrack. The Wadiyan remakes of some American favorites made the movie worth seeing. If you get a chance listen to some of the songs, you'll be glad you did!

Items of interest:


The Hunger Games - Pre-Orders for The Hunger Games on DVD or Blu Ray have been announced. I cannot wait. I watched The Hunger Games in theaters several times and am anxious to watch it AGAIN in the comfort of my own home. Last Christmas my hubby was sweet enough to get me the Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook, so I am dying to do a theme night!

Items of interest:

The one with Frank Jr. (My list of hunky guys)

It's hard to believe that one of my favorite series ended almost 8 years ago! Friends ran for 10 seasons from 1994 through 2004. From time to time I go back and watch it all over again, but regardless of how much time has passed the show always stays with me. I know I am droning on, but I promise there is a point. I started thinking the other night about this episode where Monica and Chandler are making a list of 5 celebrities that each can sleep with, with out the other getting mad. Rachel encourages Ross to make his own list. My husband and I joke about our lists (mine keeps growing). It got me wondering how many people out there make lists? In the mean time I thought I would share mine (all of which my husband knows about).

My Top Celebrity List (In no particular order):

Gerard Butler

Gerard got added to my list in 2003 after I saw him in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. He has gorgeous eyes and an accent to die for!

Chris Hemsworth
Although Chris is beyond drool worthy in Thor, he actually got an add on my list for his role as George Kirk in J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot. Though he was only on screen for a short time in Star Trek, every time I see his scene I cry like a baby!

Tom Hardy (Can you tell I have a thing for guys with accents?)
Many people recognize Tom Hardy from movies Like RocknRolla, Inception, Warrior, and most recently This Means War, but my crush started long before any of these movies. I fell for Tom Hardy back when played Shinzon, a cloned Jean Luc Picard, on Star Trek: Nemesis.

Alex O'Loughlin
This hunk caught my eye back when he played private detective Mick St. John, on Moonlight. In my opinion that show was taken off the air way too soon! CBS was smart though and signed Alex to a contract so they could use his talents in future work like The Back Up Plan and Hawaii Five -O.

So those are my favorites on my list. If you want to check out some of their great work I highly recommend the following:

Moonlight
Star Trek
P.S. I Love You
Wuthering Heights

The Avengers

{photo credit}

As much as I wanted to I did not get to see The Avengers on opening night, but I did get to go during opening weekend. Last night I hunkered down in my seat with Red Vines and a Diet Dr. Pepper for an amazing 142 minutes. 

The Avengers movie has in my opinion an AMAZING cast of actors and actresses, but I admit that I do have my favorites. Chris Hemsworth, who plays the gorgeous Thor does a great job of portraying the Norse God. 

While I will forever have a crush on Chris Hemsworth, I do have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with both Chris Evans as Captain America and another character that does not get nearly as much airtime =, Clark Gregg who plays Agent Phil Coulson. 

The Avengers is a flick that just about everyone in the family will love. Parents with little ones you may want to proceed with caution since there are some innuendos and a lot of violence. 

Should you decide to go and enjoy The Avengers make sure you stay until the very end of the movie. Yes I do mean very end, past every credit!  If you watched Iron Man 2, Captain America, or Thor and stayed through the end credits you were rewarded with a teaser that nodded toward the upcoming Avengers movie.   By staying until the end of The Avengers you are again reward, but this time with two clips. 

This movies is a great way to start off the summer blockbuster series, and I would not be surprised if it was the best of the season!

Haven't seen any of the movies associated with the Avengers? Check them out now. I can honestly say that I loved each and everyone of the (well Thor a little more for obvious reasons).

Wuthering Frights

Tonight was the release party for H.P. Mallory's new book Wuthering Frights. The release party, which was held on Facebook was a constant crazy conversation between hundreds of women who, like me, adore Mallory's  work! I have not yet had a chance to start Wuthering Frights, but will be starting it soon!

Wuthering Frights is the fourth book in the Dulcie O'Neil series. If you are dying to start the series, but not sure which book to start with here goes:

Book 1: To Kill a Warlock

Book 2: A Tale of Two Goblins

Book 3: Great Hexpectations

Book 4: Wuthering Frights

Simply Jane

I finally got some crafting done and managed to make my Mother's Day Shaker Card...

Once I knew what I wanted it wasn't too difficult to make it work. The Stamps and Dies are from Papertrey Ink, the paper and pearls are from Stampin' Up!

Mirror Mirror Review

Mirror Mirror Review

Every Saturday night the hubby, a good friend of our Bill,  and I attend services at Twin Lakes Church, followed by dinner and a movie. Last night the hubby and I found ourselves in a peculiar situation, our friend Bill had other plans. We decided to make a date night out of it and headed out of town. We drove to Salinas to have dinner at Outback. After being stuffed to the gills we went to check out Mirror Mirror. I have wanted to see Mirror Mirror since I saw the previews several months ago. Another reason I wanted to see Mirror Mirror is because I am a fan of Pit Boss and both Ron and Sebastian were in the movie.

Mirror Mirror was a charming, cute, and funny movie. Although I have not like much of Julia Roberts work lately, this movie brought out the fan in me. Julia was hilarious, snarky, and drunk on power! Lily Collins did a great job at playing Snow White. I may make a few enemies for my next remark, but even though I have not seen Snow White and the Huntsman yet, I can safely say that Lily Collins makes a better Snow than Kristen Stewart!

The movie is okay for families, there are a few adult jokes, but the easily fly over little one's radar. All in all I am glad I saw this movie. I am a little sad it didn't do better in theaters, but then it went up against several great movies. Hopefully this flick will find its following on DVD!

Items of interest:

Lockout Review

After seeing the trailer for Lockout I knew I wanted to see it. I happen to love action flicks almost as much as I love chick flicks. Lockout delivered what I expected and more.

Guy Pearce is great in this movie. He's gorgeous, cocky, funny, and has a heart of gold. Don't get me wrong, Lockout was predictable in some places, surprised me in others, and the end felt a little rushed. I would absolutely recommend this movie as a matinee or to rent!

PARTY ENSEMBLES

I just got home to find this on my door step:

I can't wait to crack it open and try some new craft goodness.. In addition to that I finally got my PTI haul including some of the new Movers and Shakers dies.. I will definitely be posting some finished projects..

Admittedly I have not posted nearly as much as I should. I am hoping that is going to change in the coming weeks. With a boatload of crafty stuff I have gotten, new books, and what not, there should be a lot to post about. I am going to start this one by posting about a book released on February 28, 2012. Many have already heard me sing the praises of H.P. Mallory, if you have not yet checked her now is the time. H.P started out as a self published author and has turned her dream of writing full time into a reality. She (H.P.) was recently picked up by Random House, who will now be publishing her books. The first to be release was Witchful Thinking, the third in the Jolie Wilkins series. While I have not finished the book as of yet, I can tell you that it is funny, magical, and who doesn't like a good old fashioned love triangle. I highly suggest checking out the book.