Math is Magic... Really

You didn't know this? All you have to do is watch read/watch the news to figure it out.

For example, did you know that Avatar is the "highest grossing film of all time"? Really - of course, that means you don't take inflation into account... or currency fluctuation... or the premium charge that most theaters levy for watching films in 3-D and/or IMAX. Nah, math is magic, remember? If you can add up the numbers, it's A-OK.

Or another example, this one a bit more serious. Did you know that the current war in Iraq (which, on March 20th of this year, will have lasted 7 years) is longer than World War Two? Granted, that depends on when you count WW2 as starting.

See, if you date it by American involvement, it's not quite 3 years & 9 months from the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to the surrender of Japan in August 1945. The traditional start of the war, however, is September 1, 1939, with the Nazi invasion of Poland (which makes the war almost 6 years long)... and I would suggest that you could make a case for the starting date being the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (September 13, 1931) which means the war lasted 14 years.

But what really cheesed me off about NBC's comparison of the Iraq War last week was the length comparison to WWII followed by a list of Americans killed & wounded in Iraq. In nearly 7 years of fighting & occupation, 4380 American soldiers have been killed and approximately 30,000 troops have been wounded. Those are tough numbers - no one wants to see that kind of grief & pain visited on families & friends.

However, NBC failed to provide context to those numbers... particularly since they had JUST made the length comparison to the Second World War. Over 400,000 US soldiers were killed during our involvement in WWII. 670,000 plus were wounded. In fact, over 19,000 US troops were killed during the Battle of the Bulge, which lasted just over 6 weeks.

Look, I'm not arguing for or against the Iraq War... or the success of a 3D movie, for that matter. What drives me crazy is that by refusing to set our pronouncements in historical context, we make decisions based on our visceral reaction rather than on good sense... and that is exacerbated when we imply false comparisons of data.

OK, I'll climb down off my soapbox & start working on my sermon for this week now...

2010 Oscar Birdbath Results

I posted a bit yesterday about my Annual Oscar Birdbath... and so, as promised, the results. Well, I'm a bit embarassed... I won. Not a commanding win, mind you - I got sixteen correct (out of 24) and FOUR 2nd place finishers each got fifteen correct! They are:

• Elizabeth Arneson (oh-so-patient & loving wife of Erik Arneson, my friend who runs the About.com/Board Games site)
• Gigi Johnson (who was nice to me back in high school & not just because her sister & I share the same birthday)
• Margaret Kellar (1/4 of the much-missed Kellar clan... her husband was our worship/youth pastor here at NewLife)
• Susan Rozmiarek (Ed & Susan are gamers, friends, and - sadly - Aggies)

Congratulations also go to the two 3rd place finishers (with 14 correct)... Bob Trezise & Keith Monaghan.

Here are the final scores...

• 16 - Mark Jackson
• 15 - Elizabeth Arneson, Gigi Johnson, Margaret Kellar, Susan Rozmiarek
• 14 - Bob Trezise, Keith Monaghan
• 12 - the "collective mind", Erik Arneson, Jeff Monaghan, Rebecca Becknal
• 11 - Jason Bullion
• 10 - Greg Thatcher, J. Hunter, Josh Bussell, Shane Oakley
• 9 - Crystal Bussell
• 8 - Jennifer Collier Madon, Wayne Hansen
• 7 - Ray Mulford
• 5 - Jim Christiansen, Joe Huber
• 4 - Darrell
• 3 - Tony

Our predictions as a "collective mind" were OK if not spectacular... 12 correct.

• BEST PICTURE: The Hurt Locker (we picked Avatar)
• BEST DIRECTOR: Katheryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (we picked James Cameron)
• BEST ACTOR: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) - correct!
• BEST ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) - correct!
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) - correct!
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo'Nique (Precious) - correct!
• ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Hurt Locker (we picked Inglorious Basterds)
• ADAPATED SCREENPLAY: Precious - correct!
• CINEMATOGRAPHY: Avatar - correct!
• FILM EDITING: The Hurt Locker (we picked Avatar)
• ART DIRECTION: Avatar - correct!
• COSTUME DESIGN: The Young Victoria (we picked Nine)
• ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC: Up - correct!
• BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "The Weary Kind" (Crazy Heart) - correct!
• ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP: Star Trek - correct!
• ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING: The Hurt Locker (we picked Avatar OR Star Trek)
• ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING: The Hurt Locker (we picked Avatar)
• ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS: Avatar - correct!
• BEST ANIMNATED FEATURE: Up - correct!
• BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: El Secreto de Sus Ojos - Argentina (we picked Das weisse Band - Germany OR Un prophète - France)
• BEST DOCUMENTARY: The Cove (we picked Food, Inc.)
• BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: Music by Prudence (we picked The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant)... btw, Jason Bullion was the only one to get this one correct!
• BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: The New Tenants (we picked Miracle Fish)
• BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: Logorama (we picked A Matter of Loaf & Death)... NONE of us got this correct!

And some final thoughts on the Oscar ceremony and a couple of the films:

• The category explanations were much more concise & "spot on" than in previous years... and the lame jokes by presenters were kept to a minimum - thank you.
• Hollywood, if you're listening, John Lasseter told you the secret to making great films during his short film introduction blurb. Hint: it's not the tools.
• Ben Stiller is to Oscar night as John Ratzenberger is to Pixar films.
• The dual host thing worked OK - not bad but not great.
• Please don't waste Neil Patrick Harris again - if you're going to let him sing, turn him loose in something besides a Vegas showgirls number.
• Didn't listen to the majority of the acceptance speeches thanks to Tivo - probably missed a good moment or two but also missed a lot of dreck.
• What was up with George Clooney? Who put a thumbtack in his chair?
• I guess I need to see "The Hurt Locker" now. And "Avatar."
• The memorial for John Hughes was very classy... thanks, Academy. "The Breakfast Club" is still one of the best films ever about the social dynamics & rabid insecurities of high school.

The Collective Mind of the Birdbath Predicts the Oscars (2010 Edition)

Each year since 2000, I've hosted what I jokingly call "Mark's Oscar Birdbath"... it's just not right to call it an Oscar Pool when there's no money involved. I invite folks from throughout my life (past & present churches, high school friends, family, gamer buddies, etc.) to participate. (Don't be miffed if you weren't asked to join - what with the compiling of the Five & Dime reports and life in general, I don't want to get too big a crowd playing.)

This year, 23 folks are participating... and here's what THEY think will be the winners this year. (This is based on their entries - when the voting is tight, I'm listing multiple entries.)

• BEST PICTURE: Avatar
• BEST DIRECTOR: James Cameron
• BEST ACTOR: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
• BEST ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo'Nique, (Precious)
• ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Inglorious Basterds
• ADAPATED SCREENPLAY: Precious OR Up in the Air
• CINEMATOGRAPHY: Avatar
• FILM EDITING: Avatar
• ART DIRECTION: Avatar
• COSTUME DESIGN: Nine
• ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC: Up
• BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "The Weary Kind" (Crazy Heart)
• ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP: Star Trek
• ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING: Avatar OR Star Trek
• ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING: Avatar
• ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS: Avatar
• BEST ANIMNATED FEATURE: Up
• BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (Germany) OR Un prophète (France)
• BEST DOCUMENTARY: Food, Inc.
• BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
• BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT: Miracle Fish
• BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: A Matter of Loaf & Death

Come back on Monday & see how the collective mind of "my friends" did this time around... and find out who won the Birdbath! A couple of "I'd like to thank the Academy"-ish kind of things to close this post out:

• Thanks to Steve Stigler & his buddies from high school (especially Chris Newcomb), who first introduced me to Oscar Pools and the musical stylings of Stephen Sondheim when we were students together at Baylor University
• Thanks to Matt Baldwin, whose website, Defective Yeti, is the one who makes it so darn easy for me to maintain the Birdbath

Cultural Utility Belt

As some of you remember, one of my favorite blogs is NPR's pop culture mash-up, Monkey See. What follows is from a post from there by Linda Holmes - it's actually about pop culture & science education, but see if it doesn't apply equally well to ministry...

Neil deGrasse Tyson: At the end, I said, "Just by a show of hands, how many among you do not own a television?" These are people who teach physics. Half the hands went up.

I said, "Of those who remain, who own a television, how many of you don't watch it except maybe you put a movie on it?" Half the hands went up. Which meant three-quarters of that audience had no access to the single greatest force on the thinking of the people who it is that they're trying to teach. And I said to them: you cannot call yourself an educator if you have no insights into the tangled mental pathways that exist in the people who you are trying to teach.

It's not just a lesson plan you're handing people. You've got to get in the head and find out how they're going to misthink what it is you're saying. You've got to get in the head and find out what excites them to care about what it is you're saying. And if you don't, you're just simply lecturing. You're not an educator, you're a lecturer, and they either get it or they don't. If that's what you are, fine, but don't pretend you're anything else.

So the average kid watches 30 hours of TV a week. You should at least know what it is. I'm not saying watch it every night. But if there's a hit show, know what the hit show is. Take a minute, watch American Idol. Watch NOVA. Watch the movie of the week. Watch the football game. Watch Janet Jackson's left breast. Find out what people are talking about. Because that will matter to them, whether or not it matters to you.

You know something? You're not the subject of that class -- they are...

Not all television programming lends itself to that analysis, but nonetheless, there could have been an episode that had an interesting twist, a plot that you can tap. In fact, I view those tools as features on the utility belt that I carry with me every day. I'll call that my cultural utility belt...

And therein, I think, should be the tool kit of the educator. Little bit of pop culture, little bit of sports, little bit of politics, little bit of everything that's not in your field, because it's going to be in everybody else's portfolio of interests. It allows you to go places undreamt of if all you did was speak to the line-by-line notes of your curriculum.

Read the whole thing at Why Educators Need A Cultural Utility Belt.

More Popular Than Jesus

44 years ago today, John Lennon opened his mouth during a magazine interview in England and this is what tumbled out:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first—rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.

A few months later, the American magazine Datebook reprinted the quote... and things went a bit nuts. There were record burnings, death threats, and even the KKK got involved. By the way, important safety tip: you can figure out when you've probably gone off the deep end in your reactions when the Ku Klux Klan agrees with you. (You can read more details about it on Wikipedia.)

John offered this half-hearted apology:

Lennon: I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it, but I just happened to be talking to a friend and I used the words "Beatles" as a remote thing, not as what I think - as Beatles, as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just said "they" are having more influence on kids and things than anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is the wrong way.

Reporter: Some teenagers have repeated your statements - "I like the Beatles more than Jesus Christ." What do you think about that?

Lennon: Well, originally I pointed out that fact in reference to England. That we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this.

Reporter: But are you prepared to apologise?

Lennon: I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologise if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry.

So, this morning, my friend, game designer Stephen Glenn, decided to use his Facebook status update to mock the Beatles tune, "All You Need Is Love" - and then I commented about the anniversary... and we were off to the races.

After a bit of conversation, Stephen said something pretty profound:

Let's say, for sake of argument, that at any given time the Beatles *were* more popular than Jesus. In the big False American Idol contest, Jesus comes in third behind money and The Beatles. Why would that even matter to someone who had chosen to dedicate their life to Christ? Are they so insecure and threatened if someone/thing happens to be more "popular" than their guy?

First, ouch. Score one point for the snarky game designer with the Spiel des Jahres nomination under his belt.

Second, duh. I attended seminary for a reason, right? I was forced to respond with:

Biblically, Jesus was a "man of no reputation" (Philippians 2:7) and "despised & rejected by men" (Isaiah 53)... so I must humbly admit that you, Stephen Glenn, are correct.

Dang, I hate it when you're right - and that False American Idol thing is genius... I'm gonna steal that & use it in a sermon.

So, I didn't use it in a sermon - though that may still happen. It became a blog post. (Stephen graciously OK'd my use of this so I didn't have to steal & therefore missed breaking a commandment tonight - thanks, dude!)

Look, if Jesus really was a man of no reputation - a guy who managed to cheese off both the government & the religious leadership - why are we who call ourselves followers of Christ so concerned about polishing his image? Isn't the objective to be more like Him rather than to make the world like Him?

And if that's our goal, our vision, our pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow, why do we waste so much of our time & energy trying to force other people to pay respect to God, like we were some kind of enforcers for a spiritual mob boss or a ministers of protocol to some tinpot dictator? If God doesn't care that much about his Q rating, why should we?

I'll let singer/songwriter Rick Elias have the last word(s) with his song, "Man of No Reputation":

It was said this man was of no reputation

Yet He could stop the rising storm

With a gesture of His hand

But He chose to use His hands to heal

Hearts of darkness, hearts of stone

Just like mine would be revealed

He was a man of no reputation

And by the wise, considered a fool

When He spoke about faith and forgiveness

In a time when the strongest arms ruled

But this man of no reputation

Loved the weak with relentless affection

And He loved all those poor in spirit just as they were

He was a man of no reputation

It was said this man brought only confusion

That He'd achieve his ends by any means

And the truth that it brings revolution

And for once they were right

The truth set us free

The hearts of the captive were his only concern

And the powerful knew their days were ending

One day soon the gates of heaven will open wide

And the Prince of Peace will come back for His bride

But for now we live on these streets

Forbidding and tough

Where push always comes to shove

And it's said love's never enough

Where a prophet in rags gives hope to a fearful world

No injustice, no heart of darkness

Will keep this voice from being heard

He was a man of no reputation

And by the wise, considered a fool

When He spoke about faith and forgiveness

In a time when the strongest arms ruled

But this man of no reputation

Loves us all with relentless affection

And He loves all those poor in spirit, come as you are

To the man of no reputation

Battlelore: Lost In Translation

For background to this post, read my previous posts Battlelore is Pregnant & ...and Tide of Iron is the Baby Daddy.

Christian Petersen, the CEO of FFG, posted a Q&A about the status of Battlelore on the Fantasy Flight website. What follows is quotes from that Q&A mixed with my comments/"translations" of what was said.

Q: Does Battles of Westeros use the same game system as BattleLore?

CP: No. While both are games of medieval army battles and have some slight similarities, they are different games... The classic BattleLore game is based on Richard Borg’s “Command and Colors” game system, while Battles of Westeros is an entirely new engine, one that is significantly more involved than C&C and more in tune with FFG’s design principles.

OK, no surprise here. These are different games & Westeros will not be treated as an expansion.

CP: We acquired BattleLore to be our core brand for medieval tactical warfare games (in the scale represented in the classic BattleLore game). The BattleLore name is not necessarily tied to Richard’s “Command and Colors” system.

As others have commented, this doesn't completely make sense. For those who like the original system (what CP calls "classic Battlelore"), slapping the name on a different game doesn't make us like it more. And for those who didn't like the "classic" game, it turns them off to your new product. This does not, at least to my untrained eye, seem to be a wise brand management move.

The classic BattleLore game (which we purchased from Days of Wonder in ’08) had an eclectic mix of a Fantasy and historic medieval theme that FFG has never been comfortable with. We solve this problem with Battles of Westeros, which will take on the role of our gritty, no-magic, medieval warfare game, while the classic “BattleLore” game’s trajectory will be of more traditional fantasy.

OK, an attempt at translation: "We had this Westeros game in development that was close enough to Battlelore that we realized we needed the license to not offend a truckload of gamers. And then we thought about selling a bunch of Battlelore on top of that & made the offer to Days of Wonder, who was already completely overwhelmed with what they had created."

Q: Will the classic BattleLore game continue to be supported?

CP: Yes. We are working on new releases as we speak, one of which will be announced on the FFG site in the near future.

Translation: "We will throw you guys a bone or two, so please stop gnawing on my leg as if it was made of Milk-Bones with your blog posts & general hysteria ."

Last year, Richard posted some ideas for “future releases” for BattleLore. Unfortunately, some fans took this post as canon, and are now expecting these specific releases. I think it important to note that while they were well-intended ideas of Richard’s, they did not fall in line with FFG’s vision. What we’re working on with Richard currently has no relation to anything in that old post, but something entirely new and different.

Having never read the original post by Richard (who is, btw, a very nice guy), I don't know what those ideas were. CP is exactly right here - ideas of the designer are just ideas unless the publisher puts up the dough to get 'em printed.

Q: Speaking of BattleLore, the main BattleLore game has been out of print for a while. Will this come back into print?

CP: There have been, and continue to be, some very serious issues in reconciling the production methods and expectations in the way Days of Wonder produced the BattleLore main game with those of FFG. We understand the lack of availability is an issue and we’re working on a solution...

There’s a particular trap in manufacturing games, and it’s one that applies here. The initial printing of a game is typically printed in large volumes, which means that certain efficiencies of this volume are not able to be replicated in a smaller (i.e. reprint level) production. This is a trap that FFG works hard to avoid in its own manufacturing, but the original BattleLore printing was of course not in our production control. Not only was BattleLore caught in this trap, but the game was priced aggressively to begin with, even assuming the best of production efficiencies. On top of that, the factory that DOW used for this production essentially admitted to pricing their manufacturing of the original BattleLore “to get the business in the door” -- which means that the costing levels on the first run was eminently underpriced.

Translation: "We would like to blame Days of Wonder for a problem we've owned since 2008. Since that seems a little cheeseball of us, I'll go into more detail & explain that part of the reason DoW was willing to sell this to us was they were struggling with the same thing and were more than happy to let us pay them for the privilege of not having to deal with it anymore."

This, set against the overall backdrop of an already steeply escalating cost in game manufacturing, has made the core game a serious issue. Reprinting the core game “as is,” would essentially result in a near $150 retail price point, which is obviously unacceptable.

Note: this sentence was tweaked in the last 24 hours... it originally read "near $200 retail price point".

Translation: "We won't be reprinting the base game in the same format. Do the math, people."

Q: Was this a surprise?

CP: When we took over BattleLore, the key value to FFG was the BattleLore brand. Which, as you can see, we’re carrying forward with Battles of Westeros.

We were concerned that the classic BattleLore base game, as had been created by Days of Wonder (“DOW”), was going to be troublesome on a production level. We did not, to be honest, expect it to essentially be non-manufacturable, as is the case.

Translation: "I won't answer that question, because it looks oopidstay for me to admit we bought a pig in a poke. Instead, I will wave our flashy new game in your face, hoping you'll pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Then I will once again tell you that the eBay/Geekplace value of an original base set should start climbing, as we will not try to punch that particular tar baby again."

So, as I said before, we’re working on a solution to this problem, and we have some short-term solutions that I think will work very well for players looking to get into BattleLore.

Q: Such as?

CP: I’ll have to defer the details and the exact “when” for another day when the details are more concretely in place (they are subject to change at this point.)

Translation: "We're scrambling here, but we really do have good intentions. Please don't make us promise something we can't follow through with..."

Some final thoughts:

• I don't think FFG (or Christian Petersen) is the Evil Overlord in this scenario. They made a business decision that has turned out to be fraught with difficulty (and probably not helped in any way by the world economic situation) and so they're trying to make lemonade out of lemons without cheesing off a whole bunch of potential customers.
• I think FFG has overestimated the value of Battlelore as a brand name separate from the game system released originally by Days of Wonder.
• I think FFG underestimated the difficulty of producing Battlelore & expansions... and now they've got a tiger by the tail.
• I'm glad to hear that there will be some kind of continued support for Battlelore... and I hope that it will wisely take into account the pre-existing fan base as well as the potential for bringing new players into the game. That's going to be a difficult task.

Legal Fine Print: Any comments that I made in my "translations" are purely speculative and indicate no real insight or information... they are simply my attempts at commentary & humor. Please do not sue me.

...and Tide of Iron is the Baby Daddy

For background information, check out my post from a couple of days ago, Battlelore is Pregnant.

Jormi Borced posted a lot of information about playing a beta copy of Battles of Westeros over on Heroscapers.com yesterday - which gives us some clues about BoW/Battlelore compatibility:

• 8 sided dice (Westeros) vs 6 sided dice (Battlelore)
• morale track/objective-based win conditions (Westeros) vs first to X flags win condition (Battlelore)
• individual order decks customized pre-game (Westeros) vs common order deck (Battlelore)
• command tokens/cards/back'n'forth impulse orders (Westeros) vs order cards & simple turn order (Battlelore)
• light on magic/creatures (Westeros) vs Lore/War Council/creatures (Battlelore)
• flanking/engagement rules (Westeros) vs... well, there isn't anything like that in Battlelore

In other words, Battles of Westeros is to Battlelore as Tide of Iron is to Memoir '44. (Comparison is NOT original to me - folks on the Geek said it first.)

Allow me to elucidate (and pat myself on the back for using a SAT-quality word!): Battles of Westeros is Battlelore infected by the FFG virus. The operative elements of the FFG virus are:

• oodles of theme
• scads of plastic minis
• the "let's add some more cool stuff" design ethic skating across the the line into "we've added so much that the game is bloated, difficult to play cleanly & requires a FAQ roughly the size of a phone book"

My speculation, BTW, proved correct. This will not be compatible with Battlelore & may well spell the end of continuing official support of the original system. My plea is that FFG finish out the Call to Arms decks to include the expansions & publish a Campaign Book like the wonderful creation put out for Memoir '44 last year by DOW.

"Lost" & Found (he he he...)

My personal obsession with "Lost" + one of my favorite blogs + making fun of some of the stupid things we pastor types can pull trying to be culturally relevant = priceless!

With the show in its final season, you’re lost as it were with how to properly judge the quality of a Lost sermon. It’s almost as if you need a Lost sermon scorecard...

• 8. The sermon compares the island to hell. = +3 points
• 9. The sermon compares the island to heaven. = +5 points
• 10. The sermon compares the island to purgatory. = + shout out to the Catholic readers...
• 32. The “others” are compared to an out of control, power hungry pastoral search committee. = +3 points

Read the whole thing at Stuff Christians Like #714: The Obligatory "Lost" Sermon.

Battlelore Is Pregnant

Well, not really... but Fantasy Flight Games revealed today that it will be publishing Battles of Westeros, which will use the Battlelore rule system. The "baby" is due in November, just in time for holiday fantasy-novel-series tie-in game-buying season. I'm extremely happy for Richard Borg, the designer (who deserves to make a ton of money yet another version of the Command & Colors system) and Fantasy Flight... but I'm not real happy for me.

You see, I have the bad, bad feeling that this may well spell the demise of support for Battlelore by Fantasy Flight. Battlelore is already on a second publisher (having originally been developed & marketed by Days of Wonder). My evidence, you ask? Well, there's really not any evidence, but this is the Internet so I will indulge in a bit of under-informed speculation:

• The 3 expansions released have all had evidence of "get something out quickly" rather than "advance the franchise." (I'll detail this below, but I do want to note that I like the ideas behind the expansions.)
• Given the choice between supporting a licensed tie-in with an extraordinarily successful fantasy novel series (George R.R. Martin's "A Game of Thrones") and non-licensed medieval/fantasy world that is supported only by those who play the game, which one would you put your cash/energy/time behind?

Look, I think FFG is a great company - I've really enjoyed some of their games & they do a bang-up job with a number of different properties. I don't begrudge them the right to choose to make more money & sales for their company by transferring their attention to Battles of Westeros over Battlelore. I just hope I'm wrong.

And, since I brought it up earlier, my two cents about the newest Battlelore expansions:

• Heroes has some nifty ideas and the sculpts are great, but the rules are NOT well-written and there are obvious mistakes in a couple of the included scenarios. (There's also a card misprint... sheesh. Hasn't anyone figured out how to proof these things yet?)
• Dragons is another cool idea that has better rules but should have included the revised creature rules... and some more stuff. It's a pretty steep price tag for 3 figures & a smattering of tokens/cards.
• Creatures ships this week... and I was stunned to learn that I was only getting one new figure for my $23 smackers. (Granted, it's a very cool figure - the Hydra.) I know that the Giant & the Elemental were promo figures that not everyone managed to snag, but that's a pretty weak expansion when that's all you have in the box.

With all that said, my son & I had a wonderful time this last week playing our first Hero/Dragon scenario... and we've set up a second scenario already. But the expansions feel rushed & as if they were only given a cursory glance... something I don't want for a game system we enjoy this much.

As more information appears, I'll keep you posted. Here's hoping I'm wrong.

BTW, the picture & information are courtesy of The Hopeless Gamer... give him some blog traffic/love.

I Can't Stop Lov... well, no - Throwing Up

As one of the folks who commented on this Stuff Christians Like post, "this is one of the most disgusting AND poignant posts I've read." Jonathan Acuff (the author) Tweeted it as "XXX, Ray Charles & throwing up," which is a pretty good 6 word summary.

Last Sunday was one of the worst days of my life.

I can say with very little Kent Brockman hyperbole that Sunday, February 14th will live forever on my top ten list of worst days ever.

Why?

Food poisoning.

And then he gets spiritual & honest & authentic... man, I love this guy. Read the whole thing at Stuff Christians Like #711: Throwing Up.

It's Not The Church's Job

Once again, James Emery White doesn't pull any punches:

Why do people often come to a church? To get fixed, find friends, renew faith, or strengthen family. All well and good, and the church can obviously be of enormous assistance in all four areas. But the church can’t be held responsible for these four areas of life, nor should you expect it to.

Go immediately & read the rest of It's Not The Church's Job at his blog.

Nurnberg Toy Fair - Game Highlights (courtesy of Die Poppelkiste)

It takes two (that's 2 in Arabic numerals, II in Roman numerals) different bits of Internet magic to bring you the latest information about kid games:

• The first is the wonderful website of Brigitte & Wolfgang Ditt, Die Poppelkiste. Their reviews and previews of games are insightful & informative. And in German. (BTW, you may know Herr & Frau Ditt from their game designs, Nautilus & Big Points, as well as a lot of scenario & variant design for The Settlers of Catan.)
• The second solves the whole "in German" problem - it's Google Translate. I can click from page to page in a website & get quickie translation of the pages. (Note: there's an art to reading these machine translations... they are literal to a fault & filled with odd syntax.)

With all that said, if you want to read this stuff for yourself, head to the Google Translation of their Nurnberg Toy Fair report.

Or you can simply read my paraphrase in the rest of this post - which doesn't require you to click away.

Here's some highlights:

• More light games at Nurnberg than at Essen (or at least less "heavy" games).
• The kid games feature a lot of use of magnetism & memory - which is basically the recipe for making Das Magische Labyrinth, the winner of the Kinderspiel des Jahres in 2009. (Well deserved award, btw... I'll be reviewing it soon.)
• Their favorite kid game of the fair is Haba's Hexenduell (Witch Duel).

Now, after I've read through it, here's what I'm excited about:

• Velo City (Abacus) - a tactical dice game about cycling
• Regatta (Asmodee) - a sailboat racing game that uses a mechanic similar to Techno Witches
• Hexenduell (Haba) - a magnetic dexterity game with a time element
• Fauna Junior (Huch & Friends) - a kid-friendly version of the well-liked (as yet not released in English) animal trivia/estimation game
• Snapshot (Kosmos) - a Rudiger Dorn-designed dexterity game for adults... really!
• Seeland (Ravensburger) - a Kramer game about Holland & dikes & windmills
• Turi Tour (Selecta) - send your animals on vacation... and somehow there's a blindfold involved!
• Asteroyds (Ystari) - described by the Ditts as "RoboRally in 30 minutes"... excellent.
• Heckmeck BBQ & Heckmeck Junior (Zoch) - 2 new ways to dice for worms!

Dust/Smoke in the Wind

The First "Dime" of 2010

February is "work on the Five & Dime Report" Month... there are more folks this (over 300) which should yield some great results but also mean I've got a lot of data compiling to do.

In my own gaming life, I've managed to reach my first "dime" (game played 10+ times) in 2010 by the end of January: Gelini Nightlife.

Don't be ashamed if you haven't heard of it - it was simply a BGG conversation about Essen games that brought it to my attention when Joe "Burger Joint" Huber & Dale "Dominion evangelist" Yu both strongly recommended that I pick up a copy. I arrived in mid-January and promptly became the most played game in my collection for the year.

I'll do a full review in the next week or so, but it's a Knizia-designed game, adapted from one of his earlier published designs (Tutankhamen) and made less math-y and more fun.

Other games that have been played extensively in the first 37 days of 2010:

• Das Magische Labyrinth 6
• Alea Iacta Est 5
• Dungeonquest 5
• Keltis: Der Weg der Steine (Mitbringspiel) 5
• The Adventurers 4
• Click Clack 4
• Enuk the Eskimo 4
• Heroscape Master Set: Battle for the Underdark 4
• Marrakech 4
• StreetSoccer 4

Late Night + Too Much Sugar + Haba = FUN

Forbidden Island

How cool is this? A cooperative family game by Matt Leacock - the designer who created Pandemic and Roll Through the Ages - produced by Gamewright, a company with a much longer reach into the mass market than Z-Man or FRED.

And you've got to admit, the preview is pretty neat.

More information to come following NY Toy Fair...

Spielbox in English?!

Just passing this important information along...

We are considering producing an English version of spielbox magazine. We would like to know your opinion: if you d be potentially interested in an English edition of spielbox, please send an e-mail with the subject yes to vote@nostheide.de. (Your mail address will*not* be used for any other purpose than this survey.) Of course you can answer directly to me too.

Best regards

Barbara Nostheide

Permission To Speak Freely

Anne Jackson is not related to me... as far as I know. (There are a LOT of Jacksons wandering around the good ol' US of A.) But she's a writer/speaker of amazing wisdom & grace... and her latest project is worth checking out. Click on the graphic to find out more.

Content of My Character?

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Which raises the question... what is the content of my character? What is it like today?

You can find the text of the speech here.

Migration: A Provocative Email

I thought this post was already on here - but evidently it's not. So now it is. (This post is suddenly relevant again, thanks to Pat Robertson's comments about Haiti. And if you're really a glutton for punishment, I've written about Pat & his ability to insert both feet in his mouth at the same time before: Welcome to My World and Welcome to Pat's World.) I originally wrote this on September 25th, 2001.

It was the weekend after the horrific events of 11 Sept 2001... in fact, it was Saturday night. I was "putting the sermon to bed". ("Putting the paper to bed" is an old newspaper term - meaning "stop working on it and publish it".)

And then I got this e-mail from an atheist friend. He'd sent me a link to a story about the statements made by Jerry Falwell & Pat Robertson on the 700 Club a couple of days after the terrorist attacks... and he'd added the following comment.

My first reaction was to send this to my secular friends as an example of "Christian Love". And then, instead, I decided to forward it to somewhere it might do some good - to a pastor whom I have great respect for. I hope that within your church, and through your greater church organization, you will denounce and distinguish yourself from these officers of the Western version of the Taliban. These snakes must be censured by Christians if the religion is to be kept clean, just as we expect Islamic Americans to denounce the violence done in the name of their religion.

And so, challenged by his 'faith' in me and sickened myself by the remarks that had been made, I attempted to respond.

I wish Disney Corporation would build a REAL new amusement park in the States (like the almost-open Tokyo DisneySeas) rather than the cheap "good enough for Six Flags" California Adventure. I wish all of the games on my search list (held by Manu) would be found and shipped to me. I wish someone would give me enough money to pay off my mortgage and buy a new car. I have a lot of wishes.

I wish people who should know better would learn to keep their mouths shut... to follow the teachings of Scripture and be "slow to speak, quick to listen, slow to anger". But, over time, I've come to expect little more than this from the vast majority of tele-evangelists and Christian media types... Neil Postman was DEAD ON in his incredible book, Amusing Ourselves To Death, when he suggested that religion is profoundly changed by being broadcast on TV.

First, let me apologize to you for those who share my basic faith (in the need for a personal relationship with God through the sacrificial death & resurrection of Jesus Christ) yet still manage to make mincemeat of the truth when you point a camera at them. While I agree that certain behaviors and worldviews attacked by these two are not biblical, I would quickly point out that God could just as easily "lift the curtain of protection" (sigh) for religious hypocrisy or profiteering off faith as abortion or pagan religious beliefs. (Jesus saved his most blistering attacks for those who abused their spiritual leadership.)

Second, I need to point out that the views you've heard expressed by these two (and are being expressed by others) are not necessarily the Christian mainstream, any more than the Taliban or the terrorist organizations speak for all of Islam. In a peculiar blending of scriptural interpretation and "my country - right or wrong" patriotism, they have assumed the promises given to the Jewish people in the Old Testament directly apply to the United States because of it's "Christian" origins. [Never mind that: a. the Jewish people took it in the teeth a number of times in the O.T. even with those promises in place, and b. that America's origins may have some routes in Christian belief, but also include healthy doses of Deism, rationalism, and pure, unadulterated greed.] As you can probably guess, I don't share their viewpoint.

Third, I hope you'll be heartened to know that my sermon/teaching tomorrow morning will be focusing on the scriptural concepts of "overcoming evil with good", "in your anger, do not sin", and "in Christ, there is no Jew or Greek" - as I attempt to lay out some solidly 'Christian' reactions to the horror of these attacks. One of my greatest fears right now is not lousy theology (there always seems to be plenty of that around) but racism in the name of patriotism.

Fourth, there have already been a number of folks in Christendom who've taken Robertson & Falwell to task for their grandstanding during this time of crisis. I had actually read of their remarks on Christianity Today's website Friday, who took a decidedly dim view of their tomfoolery.

Fifth, I take issue with your equating two televangelists with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. While they are irritating and often maddening, they have not recently taken over a country and instituted Sha'riah (sp?) law. (Yes, I understand that many of the legal changes they would like to see would be stifling... but what they long for is an idealized view of the 1950's in the suburbs/South as much as a "Christian" nation.) I understand your anger - but think your metaphor is inflated.

Sixth, thank you for paying me the compliment of forwarding this story to me. As always, I appreciate your friendship and the intellectual challenge of our conversations. If you would not mind, I'd like to use your original note to me and my response as a base for my e-mail newsletter to my church this next week.

yours in Christ,

mark

Within 24 hours, he answered... with permission to do this article and a couple of other interesting comments.

ME: "I need to point out that the views you've heard expressed by these two (and are being expressed by others) are not necessarily the Christian mainstream..."

Well, this is an interesting distinction. Unmistakably they do not speak for all Christians. However, through their visibility, they can easily come across, rightly or wrongly, as representing the mainstream. I truly don't know what goes on out there, and unfortunately, much of my knowledge of American Christianity (as a practice, not as a theology) comes from the media, which is to say, from those who speak the loudest. So I imagine it must be an especial burden for someone like yourself to see your religion so profoundly misrepresented.

And this is why I believe it is so important for you to *actively* distance yourself, and for more Christian churches to come down hard against these people. If the Falwells of the world are the ones who put a face on Christianity, then this is the face that people will see.

Additionally, I am sure that many in your congregation listen to these shows. If someone like yourself does not take a stand, then there will be those in your congregation who come to believe that the ideas expressed by Falwell do indeed represent Christianity.

And that was that... except that the news went a different direction in the days that followed and one of my friend's comments became even more interesting in light of it.

The Rest of the Story

In the next couple of days, both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson issued statements.

Pat Robertson first supported the remarks made by Falwell, both on the telecast with comments like "I totally concur" & "Amen" and in statements issued to AP: "In no way has any guest on my program suggested that anyone other than the Middle East terrorists were responsible for the tragic events that took place on Tuesday. I again emphasize that there are organizations within the United States which have labored unceasingly to strip religious values from our public square, and in the process, to take away the mantle of divine protection which our nation has enjoyed ever since the days of its founding."

And then, there was an about-face. In his final press release on the comments, he castigated Falwell for uttering "a political statement of blame directed at certain segments of the population that was severe and harsh in tone, and, frankly, not fully understood by the three hosts of The 700 Club who were watching Rev. Falwell on a monitor." He then told Fox News that he considered the remarks "totally inappropriate."

Meanwhile, Jerry Falwell was doing some back-pedaling of his own. His first statement was as follows: "I sincerely regret that comments I made during a theological discussion on a Christian television program were taken out of their context and reported, and that my thoughts - reduced to sound bites - have detracted from the spirit of this time of mourning... My mistake on the 700 Club was doing this at the time I did it, on television, where a secular media and audience were also listening. And as I enumerated the sins of an unbelieving culture, because of very limited time on the 700 Club, I failed to point the finger at a sleeping, prayerless and carnal church. We believers must also acknowledge our sins, repent, and fast and pray for national revival."

I can't pretend to know what happened next or what motivated Falwell's actions... but this is where things got really interesting from a Christian perspective. Jerry Falwell issued a second statement a day later. What follows is part of the AP News story.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell apologized Monday for saying God had allowed terrorists to attack America because of the work of civil liberties groups, abortion rights supporters and feminists. Falwell said his comments were ill-timed, insensitive and divisive at a time of national mourning. President Bush had called the minister's statement inappropriate.

"In the midst of the shock and mourning of a dark week for America, I made a statement that I should not have made and which I sincerely regret,'' Falwell said. "I want to apologize to every American, including those I named. When I talked about God lifting the curtain of protection on our nation, I should have made it very clear that no one on this earth knows whether or not that occurred or did not occur." He said if the destruction was a judgment from God it was a judgment on all sinners, including himself.

Falwell told The Associated Press that no one from the evangelical community or the White House pressured him to apologize. However, he said a White House representative called him Friday while he was driving to the National Cathedral memorial service in Washington, and told him the president disapproved. Falwell said he told the White House that he also felt he had misspoken.

So?

Now that all the dust has cleared (and, btw, that's the main reason for waiting to write this up - it's way too easy to write/say something that quickly becomes outdated by current events with a situation like this)... so what? Why spend this much bandwidth on what is essentially a two-week old news story?

For me, it's my friend's comment:

If the Falwells of the world are the ones who put a face on Christianity, then this is the face that people will see.

I agreed with him completely that Saturday night as my outrage against anyone claiming to speak for God ("THIS is the reason 4,000 people died" - blech!) burned white-hot.

And I agree with him now, as I've watched a very public religious figure, a lightening rod for controversy and ridicule, very publicly apologize for what he said. While I don't always agree with Jerry Falwell, I'm thankful that a major part of this story is his saying "I was wrong." In doing that, he's putting "a face on Christianity" that shows humility, teachability, and an absence of pride.

There's a number of ways to still be cynical about this: "He just did it to get people off his back" or "He didn't mean it" or... well, the list could go on and on. Honestly, the spirit of his apology and what it means is for Jerry to take up with God - as people who claim to follow Jesus, we can simply accept it at face value and move on.

What About Pat?

I'll let you make your own decisions about Pat Robertson's "point the finger" defense. For me, it just offers a sickening counterpoint to Jerry Falwell's apology.

What About Responding?

Was it OK to respond with righteous indignation to the reports of their remarks on the 700 Club? In short, yes.

In long, yes... as long as our legitimate anger at mishandling the Truth didn't bleed over into cynicism and name-calling. It's all too easy to end up in the same place, claiming to speak for God when accusing of others of being unable to speak for God. Sigh.

What About Me?

In light of all this, ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. Who do I need to apologize to? (Take a cue from Jerry and offer an apology without finger-pointing. Chances are you've left someone in your wake in the last 48 hours that deserves your humble plea for forgiveness.)
2. Will you let this go? Will you forgive Jerry Falwell? Granted, he's made himself the target of barbs & criticisms (some of them justly deserved). But when we place him in the category of 'Christian buffoons' and refuse to extend grace to him, we set ourselves up for a fall.

Jesus: "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

Let those roll around in your heart & mind today...

Thanks For Reading...

...and thanks again to J.D. for letting me quote him and turn some of what he said into a teachable moment.