The Mouse Gave Me the Bum's Rush

I've been promising for a LONG time to tell the story of how I got thrown out of Disneyland... and just the other day I realized that I wrote it up during my "reign" as Geek of the Week on BoardGameGeek. So, now I'm sharing it with the rest of you. Set the Wayback Machine for Spring Break week, 1980...

I didn't do anything... except make the bad choice to hang out with my friends, Jim & Mike. They decided late in the evening to take advantage of the lack of seatbelts on Pirates of the Carribean. The boat in front of us was empty - and our boat just contained one necking couple (in the front) and four high school guys (Mike, Jim, Larry & myself) in the back.

At the first ledge you pass (before the first waterfall), Jim & Mike both hopped out, ran around for a minute, and jumped back in the boat. There was an annoucement over the regular narration saying "Get back in the boat."

You'd think this would slow down the idiotic behavior, but after we went over the first falls, there's another ledge on the left hand side of the boat. Again, Mike hopped out and hopped right back in.

As we reached the edge of the second falls, there was a funky "alert" noise and the boat ground to a halt with the couple poised right at the edge of the drop-off (not that they would have noticed). A guy in a pirate's outfit came out from behind the rocks & told the four of us to "get out of the boat." Larry & I both asked "us, too?" (since we hadn't done anything wrong!) - and when it was clear that the four of us were together, they took us all.

I wish I hadn't been so dang freaked out by this - I was a good kid who NEVER got in trouble - because we walked back to the boarding area through the "backstage" of Pirates (which would be pretty cool if you weren't spending all your emotional energy worrying about what was going to happen next).

Of course, what did happen next was a strong lecturing by Pirate Security Guy on the boat dock - including scare stories about kids getting killed on Tom Sawyer Island and the like. (I've since read a number of books & articles on Disneyland - and as far as I can remember, he wasn't embellishing anything.) Finally, in disgust, he handed us off to another security guy who had showed up - this one in Main Street garb.

Main Street guy was a bit older - my guess is that he'd worked at the park since the '60s - and was a bit kinder in the way he treated us. He walked us out the back of Pirate's and around the Jungle Cruise... we came up on the back side of the Fire Station on Main Street, where he stopped to point out the Disney family quarters above the firehouse.

Then he stopped & told us that we seemed like nice enough guys... and that we should know better than to pull crap like this. Instead of taking us to the security office & calling our parents, he was simply going to take us out the front gate without letting us get our hands stamped for re-entry.

And that was it.

I didn't tell my parents for YEARS.

My Master Plan Is Working, Part II

As you can see, I am well on my way to creating a 2nd gamer child in the house... the game we're "playing" is Eiertanz (translation: Egg Dance) from Haba. I'm the one with the goatee, for those of who have trouble spotting me.

Five & Dime 2006: Recap

I first began keeping track of the Five & Dime lists back in 1999... and here it is, 2007. Nine years... wow. Here's the all the links for the 2006 Five & Dime reports.

• How It All Started (actually from 2005)
• Most Played Games
• Dimes
• Nickels
• Fresh Faces
• Lo, How the Mighty Have Fallen
• Joining the "In" Crowd

And here's the links for graphic 'over time' comparisons of the top games, which I call Wide Angle Lens:

• Nine Year Pix
• Eight Year Pix
• Seven Year Pix
• Six Year Pix
• Five Year Pix
• Four Year Pix

Five & Dime 2006: Joining the "In" Crowd

These are games that have appeared on the Five & Dime lists before... and have risen in overall playing percentages.

Game	percentage gain from 2005
Hey! That's My Fish/Pingvinas	+29.01%
Hacienda	+16.23%
Loopin' Louie	+14.98%
10 Days/Europa Tour	+14.24%
To Court A King	+12.93%
Railroad Tycoon	+10.70%
Tichu	+10.65%
Caylus	+10.65%
Ca$h N Gun$	+10.40%
Vegas Showdown	+8.11%
Liar's Dice/Bluff/Perudo	+7.83%
Antike	+7.25%
Tsuro	+7.10%
Ra	+7.09%
Ave Caesar	+6.80%

There are two main reasons that games appear on this list:

1. They were reprinted and/or had another game added to their franchise this year (Hey! That's My Fish, Loopin' Louie, 10 Days In Asia, Ave Caesar)
2. They were "Essen" games... they were released late in 2005 and were only played 5+ times by a couple of folks in 2005 (Hacienda, To Court A King, Railroad Tycoon, Caylus, Ca$h'n'Gun$, Antike, Tsuro)

As always, the interesting games here are the ones that can not be explained by these reasons:

• The growing cult of Tichu with it's high priest, Derk Solko
• Vegas Showdown, which got some well-deserved recognition as the winner of the Games 100... just as it was being discontinued by H/AH (do yourself a favor & go pick up a copy of this at your local Toys'R'Expensive - they're on sale for $20!)
• Liar's Dice took a nice bump this year - could the Pirates of the Carribean be to blame? (I hope not - I thought the movie was two & a half hours of my life I would never get back)
• And finally - Ra?! How does this thing keep growing in popularity?!

Five & Dime 2006: Lo, How The Mighty Have Fallen

These are games that have appeared on the Five & Dime lists before... and have fallen in overall playing percentages.

Game	percentage loss from 2005
Shadows Over Camelot	-22.61%
Ticket To Ride	-15.99%
Louis XIV	-14.29%
Ticket to Ride: Europe	-12.26%
Euphrat & Tigris	-10.54%
Tower of Babel	-10.10%
Blokus	-9.44%
San Juan	-8.99%
Palazzo	-8.38%
Fairy Tale	-8.17%
Lost Cities	-8.16%
Around the World in 80 Days (Kosmos)	-8.11%
For Sale	-7.53%
Goa	-6.95%
Memoir '44	-6.41%
Samurai	-6.30%

Note that many of these games are still highly rated on the overall and/or five/dime lists... this year, with the much larger sampling group, high percentages common to the top games (60%+) completely disappeared. So, Ticket To Ride, Blokus & Memoir '44 can all take pretty big hits in number of players... and still end up in the top of the overall five & dime lists.

Last year, I predicted TtR: Europe would drop (it did) as well as Louis XIV (it did) and For Sale (and it did). I'm a stinkin' genius. :-)

Blokus & Memoir '44 both dropped... but not enough to knock them off the most played lists. (I'd wondered about them last year.) Ingenious seems to have stabilized and doesn't appear here.

Sadly, Memoir '44 won't hang on next year, what with Battlelore all new & shiny. Caylus will show up here, as will Thurn & Taxis & TtR: Marklin.

Five & Dime 2006: Fresh Faces

These are games that appeared on the Five & Dime lists for the first time... in some cases, they may be older games that just hadn't reached a particular play threshold.

Game	score	percentage
Thurn and Taxis	320	37.07%
Ticket to Ride - Märklin	130	20.69%
Blue Moon City	110	15.52%
To Court A King	110	12.93%
Masons	70	9.48%
Travel Blokus	65	8.62%
Command & Colors - Ancients	55	7.76%
BattleLore	50	7.76%
Cleopatra & the Society of Architects	50	7.76%
Ark	40	6.03%
Times Square	50	5.17%
Leonardo da Vinci	35	5.17%
Blokus Trigon	30	5.17%
Rum & Pirates	30	5.17%

Tied at 4.31%: Elasund, Liar!, Mr. Jack, Tempus, Toppo & Twilight Struggle

A few short comments... interesting that Battlelore made it onto the list w/only 20 days or so to get there. Other pleasant surprises for me including Rum & Pirates (a much-maligned game of luck management) & To Court A King (a great dice game whose English release got royally screwed up - then fixed).

Five & Dime 2006: Nickels (5-9 Played Games)

Game	2007	2006	2005	2004
Hey! That's My Fish!/Pingvinas	25.00%	1.01%	0.00%	0.00%
Ra	20.69%	12.63%	14.55%	11.84%
Thurn & Taxis	18.97%	new	new	new
Ticket to Ride: Marklin	18.97%	new	new	new
Liar's Dice	18.10%	10.10%	23.64%	10.53%
Ingenious	17.24%	15.66%	11.82%	new
Diamant	16.38%	15.15%	new	new
Power Grid	16.38%	11.62%	22.73%	5.26%
Take 6	15.52%	14.14%	9.09%	15.79%
Carcassonne	15.52%	14.14%	16.36%	25.00%
10 Days/Europa Tour	14.66%	4.55%	11.82%	18.42%
Caylus	14.66%	10.10%	new	new
Puerto Rico	14.66%	11.62%	19.09%	27.63%
For Sale	13.79%	15.66%	4.55%	7.89%
Geschenkt/No Thanks	13.79%	6.57%	10.91%	new
San Juan	13.79%	18.18%	17.27%	new
Ticket To Ride	13.79%	17.68%	21.82%	new
Settlers of Catan	12.93%	13.64%	6.36%	13.16%
Blue Moon City	12.07%	new	new	new
Coloretto	12.07%	10.61%	12.73%	21.05%
Wits & Wagers	12.07%	0.51%	new	new
Blokus	11.21%	13.64%	10.00%	6.58%
Loopin' Louie	11.21%	2.02%	4.55%	10.53%
Schotten-Totten/Battleline	11.21%	9.60%	5.45%	18.42%
St Petersburg	11.21%	13.64%	22.73%	new

Another "why am I not surprised?" moment as Shadows Over Camelot drops from #1 last year to... completely off the chart. (To be accurate, from 23% down to 3%.) Also dropped - TtR:Europe (no surprise), Lost Cities (huh?), Alhambra (good riddance), Louis XIV (no surprise) & Through the Desert (well...).

I didn't post any comments on this list last year, so I have no predictions to report on... so, let's proceed to my predictions for next year.

Thurn & Taxis & TtR: Marklin both hang on, but Blue Moon City drops off, as does St. Petersburg & Wits & Wagers. Hey! That's My Fish wil survive at least one year on this list.

Up & coming: Battlelore will show up here, as will whatever is "the hot new filler card game". :-)

Five & Dime 2006: Dimes (10+ Played Games)

Game	2006	2005	2004	2003
Thurn & Taxis	18.10%	new	new	new
Ticket To Ride	14.66%	26.26%	51.82%	new
Tichu	12.93%	6.57%	8.18%	11.84%
Geschenkt/No Thanks	12.07%	14.65%	new	new
San Juan	12.07%	16.67%	41.82%	new
Settlers of Catan	12.07%	7.07%	10.91%	15.79%
10 Days/Europa Tour	11.21%	7.07%	15.45%	13.16%
Diamant	11.21%	13.64%	new	new
Ingenious	11.21%	14.65%	15.45%	new
Loopin' Louie	10.34%	4.55%	4.55%	6.58%
Can't Stop	9.48%	4.04%	3.64%	11.84%
For Sale	9.48%	15.15%	2.73%	3.95%
Lost Cities	9.48%	12.63%	10.00%	13.16%
Caylus	8.62%	2.53%	new	new
Crokinole	8.62%	9.09%	14.55%	25.00%
Hacienda	8.62%	0.51%	new	new
Ra	8.62%	9.60%	13.64%	14.47%
Transamerica/europa	8.62%	7.58%	8.18%	9.21%
Zirkus Flohcati	8.62%	7.07%	4.55%	13.16%
Power Grid	7.76%	8.08%	10.91%	0.00%
Coloretto	6.90%	8.08%	10.00%	15.79%
Liar's Dice	6.90%	7.07%	10.00%	21.05%
Memoir '44	6.90%	11.11%	10.00%	new
Ticket To Ride: Europe	6.90%	8.08%	new	new

Tied for the 25th spot: Carcassonne, Hey! That's My Fish!, Mu & Mehr, St. Petersburg & To Court A King.

While there are some interesting games getting a lot of play on some tables (Thurn & Taxis, anyone?!), the most interesting development to me is what three games are NOT here this year: Puerto Rico, Bohnanza & Take 6! Last year I refused to predict about the future fate of Take 6 or Zirkus Flohcati as both games have a history of flirting with appearance on this list - so, I was right in not taking a position. (I'd be a GREAT politician.)

Again, as I predicted, both Diamant & No Thanks! retained their positions in the top 20... I'll go out on a limb & say that No Thanks! will make it another year... but that Diamant will JUST miss making it back. (Even with Incan Gold in print...)

As a Settlers fan, I'm happy to say I was right in predicting that it would hold it's position... and I also called Ticket To Ride correctly (dropping out of first but staying in the top ten.)

Predictions for next year: Battlelore joins the list, Memoir says "bye-bye" (along with TtR:E, Hacienda & Caylus. Thurn & Taxis may or may not drop off - but it'll be close. (See if I'm right in 12 months!)

Five & Dime 2006: Most Played Games

Game	Score	2006	2005	2004
Thurn & Taxis	320	37.07%	new	new
Ticket To Ride	250	28.45%	43.94%	73.64%
Ingenious	230	28.45%	30.30%	27.27%
Diamant	225	27.59%	28.79%	new
Ra	220	29.31%	22.22%	28.18%
No Mercy/Geschenkt	220	25.86%	21.21%	new
San Juan	220	25.86%	34.85%	59.09%
Hey! That's My Fish/Pingvinas	215	31.03%	2.02%	0.00%
10 Days/Europa Tour	215	25.86	11.62%	27.27%
Settlers of Catan	215	25.00%	20.71%	17.27%
Tichu	210	23.28%	12.63%	10.91%
For Sale	190	23.28%	30.81%	7.27%
Liar's Dice	185	25.00%	17.17%	33.64%
Power Grid	185	24.14%	19.70%	33.64%
Caylus	185	23.28%	12.63%	new
Loopin' Louie	185	21.55%	6.57%	9.09%
Carcassonne	160	21.55%	24.75%	28.18%
Lost Cities	160	18.10%	26.26%	23.64%
Transamerica/europa	155	18.10%	16.16%	16.36%
Coloretto	150	18.97%	18.69%	22.73%
Hacienda	150	17.24%	1.01%	new
Take 6/Category 5	140	19.83%	21.21%	18.18%
St Petersburg	135	17.24%	23.23%	55.45%
Can't Stop	135	13.79%	10.10%	18.18%

Tied for 25th place with a score of 130: Ticket to Ride: Europe, Ticket to Ride: Marklin & Crokinole.

"score" is computed by giving a game 5 points for each person playing it 5-9 times and 10 points for each person playing 10+ times

the percentage numbers for each year are the percent of respondents who reported playing the game 5+ or 10+ times

For the first time, there were actually LESS gamers who participated in the Five & Dime lists... 116 gamers (2 groups & 114 individuals) chimed in. In some ways that makes me a bit sad (more people make for better stats) but it also makes me do the happy dance as well (less people mean less headaches from compiling the results).

The Ticket to Ride franchise is a juggernaut... if you add the percentages together, 66% of the respondents played one of the three games. (No, I didn't track correctly to see if this really happened - this is one of those lies, d----d lies & statistics kind of moments on my part.)

Thurn & Taxis has enjoyed it's year in the sun... and should now drop out of the top 25, though still receiving some serious play. (That's my prediction & I'm stickin' to it.)

Yet another year to wait before Carcassonne reaches a saturation point - in other words, "When will the next Carc expansion cause the whole franchise to 'jump the shark'?" It's dropping off... but not as steeply as I thought it would.

I continue to be surprised by the staying power of St. Petersburg. I like the game myself, mind you, but I didn't think it would stay in the top 25. I'm also surprised by the resurgence of Pingvinas/Hey! That's My Fish - I was just "eh, ok" when I played it, but evidently a lot of you LOVE this game.

Memoir '44 finally dropped out of the top 25... but only by a couple of places. I expect to see Battlelore here in it's place next year - but Memoir '44 could hold on, as it has a devoted fan base.

I was correct (no surprise) about the disappearance of Shadows Over Camelot & Louis XIV. (It's nice to be vindicated... he he he.)

The big question: will Caylus hold in place or will it start to fade out? Puerto Rico FINALLY slid out of the top 25 (right next to Memoir) so no game is "sacred", right?

OK, maybe we'll have to make exceptions for perennial favorites: Ra, Settlers, Tichu, & Liar's Dice.

Well, that does it for my "quickie" comments - it's time for you guys to jump on board with your comments!

Five & Dime: Wide Angle Lens (Four Year Pix)

These graphs cover 2006 (top bar) through 2003 (bottom bar). The bar is the percentage of players reporting who played the game 5+ times in the given year. The games here first appeared on the Five & Dime lists in 2003.

10 Days in the _____/Europa Tour Age of Steam Alhambra Amun-Re Attika Balloon Cup Coloretto Fearsome Floors Gulo Gulo Hey! That's My Fish/Pingvinas King's Breakfast Paris Paris Rumis

Boo

Martin continued trying to remember what exactly Missy had told him. Oh yes. Be sly as a serpent and interfere like a dove. It didn't sound right at the time, but he knew there was something in the Bible about serpents and doves.

The above quote is from the novel, Boo, by Rene Gutteridge... and I've been giggling about it since my wife read it to me (the quote, not the novel - I'm not THAT much of a slug) this weekend. In at least a couple of churches I've served in, I'm pretty sure "Missy" was advising some of the folks in power.

Oh, by the way, the reference is Matthew 10:16.

five & Dime: Wide Angle Lens (Five Year Pix)

These graphs cover 2006 (top bar) through 2002 (bottom bar). The bar is the percentage of players reporting who played the game 5+ times in the given year. The games here first appeared on the Five & Dime lists in 2002.

Alles im Eimer/The Bucket King Bang! (includes expansions) Blokus Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation Power Grid (includes Funkenschlag & expansions) Puerto Rico Street Soccer TransAmerica (includes TransEuropa) Trendy (includes Crazy Race)

Five & Dime: Wide Angle Lens (Six Year Pix)

These graphs cover 2006 (top bar) through 2001 (bottom bar). The bar is the percentage of players reporting who played the game 5+ times in the given year. The games here first appeared on the Five & Dime lists in 2001.

Africa Catch Phrase Dvonn Flowerpower Hick Hack im Gackelwack Royal Turf San Marco Traumfabrik Werewolf Wyatt Earp

Post #300: Jackson Men Look Good In Cowboy Hats

Most recently, Collin (who's a couple of months from turning two) showed off his cowboy style, along with his patented "ain't I pitiful? you should spoil me" look.

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Braeden was a month or two younger than Collin back in 2003 when this picture was taken at a children's museum - OK, it's a sombero, not a cowboy hat, but he looks good in it.

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Finally, set the wayback machine for 1967, when my cousin Kevin & I both sported cowboy apparel. (I'm the smaller guy... and I'm still smaller than Kevin. Substantially so. Of course, he's a college basketball coach, so go figure.)

Five & Dime: Wide Angle Lens (Seven Year Pix)

These graphs cover 2006 (top bar) through 2000 (bottom bar). The bar is the percentage of players reporting who played the game 5+ times in the given year. The games here first appeared on the Five & Dime lists in 2000.

Battle Cry (AH) Carcassonne (includes expansions but not stand-alone "cousins") Cartagena Citadels Lord of the Rings (includes expansions) Princes of Florence Taj Mahal Tichu Web of Power (includes China) Zertz

Five & Dime: Wide Angle Lens (Eight Year Pix)

These graphs cover 2006 (top bar) through 1999 (bottom bar). The bar is the percentage of players reporting who played the game 5+ times in the given year. The games here first appeared on the first Five & Dime list in 1999.

Apples to Apples Crokinole Loopin' Louie Lost Cities Mamma Mia (includes Sole Mio) Ra Ricochet Robot(s) Schotten-Totten/Battleline Union Pacific Zirkus Flohcati

Five & Dime: Wide Angle Lens (Nine Year Pix)

These graphs cover 2006 (top bar) through 1999 (bottom bar). The bar is the percentage of players reporting who played the game 5+ times in the given year. The games here first appeared on the first Five & Dime list in 1998, though many of them were released before that.

Acquire Bohnanza (includes expansions) Can't Stop Carabande (includes Pitchcar) El Grande Euphrat & Tigris For Sale Formula De (includes Formula De Mini) Guillotine Liar's Dice (includes Perudo) Medici Metro (includes Iron Horse) Mu & Mehr Samurai Schnappchen Jagd Settlers of Catan (includes expansions but not stand-alone "cousins") Settlers of Catan Card Game Showmanager (includes Atlantic Star) Take 6 Take It Easy Through the Desert

Super Monday

Not firing on all cylinders this morning... maybe blogging will jumpstart my brain:

• Congrats to Indy, who had a convincing win against Chicago. Esp. big kudos to Tony Dungy, who probably should have been given a Super Bowl ring from Tampa Bay for the win they got a few years back the year after firing him.
• Congrats as well to the guys at Pizza Box Football, who showed once again how nice a simulation a dice game can be. They predicted an 13 point win for Indy (33-20) - the actual score was a 12 point win (29-17).
• Congrats as well to Careerbuilder.com for making some of the few ads that I found even mildly amusing.
• OTOH, as a person who has struggled w/pornography, I am way over GoDaddy.com. Blech.
• Finally, a great idea from Kevin Hendricks over at Church Marketing Sucks: What if church Super Bowl ™ parties were officially sanctioned events? A church registers with the NFL and reports all the needed details--screen size, capacity, accurate attendance numbers after the event, etc.--and follows whatever guidelines the NFL has (no charging admission, following copyright rules, etc.). Perhaps there's a small broadcast fee the church pays (but c'mon, NFL, the church is simply boosting your numbers, don't make them pay for that priviledge), perhaps to cover administration costs or to keep this on par with what sports bars have to do. In the end everybody wins. The NFL can have its power. The TV network partner and advertisers get more viewers--and (perhaps more importantly) a count of those viewers. And the local church can go ahead and have its Super Bowl ™ party and use the communal event to connect with people.

OK, my juices are flowing now. Time to start working on my next sermon.

Of Pizza Box Shaped Games

I'm a big fan of Pizza Box Football, which comes in what looks like a personal pan pizza box for a very hungry individual. It's a great dice-based football game which uses some pretty straightforward systems to allow offense & defense to call plays & run a game in about an hour.

This is the second year they've hosted their Predict the Winner of the Big Game promotion (yep, they've read up on the bully that is the NFL)... they web-published team cards for Indy & Chicago a couple of weeks ago and invited people who owned Pizza Box Football to play with the teams and see who won.

Scores & other details were reported via their website... and this morning they issued their prediction after compiling hundreds of results:

• 67% of the games were won by Indy
• average Indy score: 28
• average Chicago score: 21
• Indianapolis won 91% of games where they scoredat least 23
• Chicago won 92% of games where they held Indianapolis below 23
• Pizza Box Football line: Indy by 7
• Score prediction: Indy 33, Chicago 20

BTW, they were right on last year.

Richard & I played Monday night, with Richard coaching Indy to a 43-28 win. Sigh. (I still have not beat Richard at Pizza Box Football. Grrr.)

Final note: the basic game is fun... but the expansion is pretty much necessary if you really want a full-bodied football experience. (More plays, actual teams to play with, etc...)

Of Parties That Were Not Meant To Be

It's Sunday morning, February 4th, and in the next couple of hours the leadership here at NewLife Community Church & I will make our final decision on closing down our Super Bowl party. Oops.. excuse me. Since the NFL has chosen to exert their legal right to the copyrighted name, I'll go O.T. Jewish and call it the Spr Bwl from now on.

Here's the deal... "mass out-of-home viewing" is bad for the NFL's Nielsen ratings. So, this year, what with a freeway Spr Bwl (Indy & Chi-town are about 200 miles apart) and nothing better to do, they decided to go after churches who were hosting Spr Bwl parties. If you want to read the whole story, you can check out the February 1st & February 2nd articles at Baptist Press.

I'll try & sum it up... the NFL prohibits (or at least chooses now to prohibit):

• showing the Spr Bwl to a large group on a screen larger than 55 inches
• charging admission to see the Spr Bwl
• showing the Spr Bwl at events that "promote a message"
• showing the Spr Bwl on multiple TV's
• using the Spr Bwl name to promote an event

Some of you are thinking... "Hey, wait a minute. I can load up in my SUV, burn a tankful of gas & go down to my local sports bar, who will require me to purchase X number of drinks and/or food while showing me the game on a screen roughly the size of Rhode Island. And if I'm sitting with my back to the big screen, there's about 50 smaller TV's perched on stands around the room. Is the enforcement of the NFL's copyright going to close down my only source for peanuts, beer & drunken hooting about how screwed up the replay system is?"

No, my friend, thanks to the NFL's selective enforcement policy, you can still go out & get plastered while watching the Spr Bwl telecast. You just can't do it at a church.

Bitter? Me? Nah. I'm just stunned at how incredibly tone deaf the NFL is being... if they're so freaked out about Nielsen ratings, then sports bars & restaurants are a bigger problem than churches.

My two cents? I think this about beating up on an institution that can't easily fight back. I think it's about being penny wise & pound foolish. I think it's about doing something that that they have every legal right to do... but many reasons not to do it. I think it's about selective enforcement of their copyright, which is probably going to end up costing them more in goodwill than they realize.

With all of that... this isn't a federal case. This isn't persecution - it's just dumb. Holding a Spr Bwl party to "challenge the injustice" isn't civil disobedience, it's grandstanding. Go home, go watch the Spr Bwl with some friends, talk about Jesus if you want to. The NFL can't take that away from you.

Too Early For Flapjacks?

This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.

This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype. Well, it used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to *eat* it. You're hypocrites, all of you! You have a problem with what I'm saying, Larry? Untie your tongue, and you come out here and talk, huh? Am I upsetting you, Princess?

When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

Of course, Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow this morning, so no long & lustrous winter for us, eh? This will make my sister very happy - she lives in Denver.

Well, There Goes That Weekend

According to YahooNews, the final Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter & the Deadly Hallows", will be released July 21st. That's a Saturday, for those of you who need to plan ahead & carve a bit of "alone time" in order to get to the end of the story. You'll also need to save up $35, as that will be the cover price for the cheapest edition.

For more Harry Potter-ish musings from me, you can check out an article I wrote some years back entitled Harry Potter, Satire & Red Herrings. (It was in response to the hub-bub caused in some conservative circles by an Onion article about Harry Potter.)

Cartoon Week Continues Here @ aka pastor guy

I found this on the GetReligion.org website... the story it's attached to isn't even the issue. The drawing is funny & sad & all-too-true... all at the same time.

What's your favorite pair? (If you're like me, you're not going to post that publicly.)

If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. 1 John 1:8-10 (The Message)