July 9 2003 RussCon Report

News

I enjoyed the Al Stewart concert with Clayton, Matt, and Brandy. Interestingly, he did not play "Year of the Cat" (his most famous popular song), no doubt mischievously sick of playing it. I was happy he played my favorite ("Roads to Moscow"). This show he had a guitarist with him; last year I saw him play solo.

Whendy & I saw Cremaster 3, part of the Cremaster Cycle of 5 films by Matthew Barney running at the Dobie this week. Very odd surreal challenging cinema indeed, with some amazing imagery and interesting music. I'm glad I saw it, but it was not an easy fast fun film. It's very slow and dream-logicky but is not just random surrealism. Not for everyone, but if you like weird movies you should check out the Cremaster stuff while it's here. A cow-orker actually flew to NYC to see the whole series at the Guggenheim a few months ago. (Personal note to Matt: I get the points for remembering "Matthew" :)

Game Results

TitanArena	4	Whendy 3 Tim 1 RussW -1 JeffF -3
Tichu	2	( MarkH Fred ) 1 ( Dan Ben ) -1
Carcassonne	4	JP 3 MarkG 1 Fina -1 Clayton -3
Cathedral	2	Crash 1 MarkY -1
StephensonsRocket	4	Tim 3 JeffF 1 RussW -1 Whendy -3
Blokus	4	Dan 3 MarkH 1 Anderson -1 SarahM -3
Transamerica	5	JP 4 Anderson 2 MarkG 0 Clayton -3 SarahM -3
Exxtra	4	MarkY 3 MarkH 1 William -1 Crash -3
Settlers	3	Crash 2 William -1 MarkY -1
Cathedral	2	Anderson 1 SarahM -1
PuertoRico	4	TimG 3 Matt 1 BD -1 Binkley -3
Go	2	Ben 1 Fred -1
Settlers	3	RussD 2 RussW 0 Fina -2
Tichu	2	( JeffF Tim ) 1 ( Whendy Marty ) -1
Exxtra	6	Ben 5 Clayton 3 Matt 1 BD -1 Binkley -3 Fred -5
ZirkusFlohcati	4	Marty 3 Whendy 1 William -1 BD -3
WebOfPower	3	Fina 2 RussW 0 RussD -2
Bluff	5	Fina 4 William 2 Crash 0 RussW -2 Whendy -4
Hoax	6	MarkG 5 JP -1 Anderson -1 SarahM -1 Crash -1 Tim -1
BigCity	3	MarkY 2 Binkley 0 Matt -2
42	2	( JP SarahM ) 1 ( MarkG Anderson ) -1
Earthquake	4	SarahM 3 Anderson -1 MarkG -1 JP -1

It warmed the cockles of my heart to see Ben and Fred play a full-size game of go.

hall of shame A reminder: please write and spell clearly when recording game results, make the scores and ranks clear, and remember last initials for people with common names like Mark and Sarah, thanks!

Ratings

Rank Ratings:     
 3.2189 JP
 2.3026 Tim
 1.7918 Ben
 1.5041 MarkH
 1.3863 MarkY
 1.3863 TimG
 1.2164 MarkG
 1.2040 Fina
 0.6931 Dan
 0.6931 Marty
 0.2231 Crash
 0.0000 RussD
-0.1823 Anderson
-0.2877 JeffF
-0.4055 Matt
-0.5232 William
-1.0986 SarahM
-1.3863 Clayton
-1.5041 RussW
-1.7918 Fred
-1.8971 Whendy
-2.0794 BD
-2.3026 Binkley

Win Ratings:
 3.2189 JP won 3 of 5
 2.0149 Fina won 2 of 4
 1.7918 Ben won 2 of 3
 1.6094 Tim won 2 of 4
 1.3863 MarkY won 2 of 4
 1.3863 TimG won 1 of 1
 1.0986 Crash won 2 of 5
 0.6931 Dan won 1 of 2
 0.6931 Marty won 1 of 2
 0.6931 RussD won 1 of 2
 0.6931 SarahM won 2 of 6
 0.3001 MarkG won 1 of 5
 0.1178 JeffF won 1 of 3
 0.1178 MarkH won 1 of 3
-0.1054 Whendy won 1 of 5
-0.1823 Fred won 1 of 3
-0.6931 Clayton won 0 of 3
-0.7577 BD won 0 of 3
-0.8755 Binkley won 0 of 3
-0.8755 Matt won 0 of 3
-0.9808 Anderson won 1 of 6
-1.2040 William won 0 of 4
-1.6094 RussW won 0 of 5

JP is the Devil! Ben, Fina, and Tim are Co-Vice-Devils!

If you are confused how the ratings work, you could peruse the FAQ.

Meta Game

JimG was the Meta Devil. Here is the Meta Game he mailed out:

Aaauggh!

Just read this today! Had no idea I would be Meta-D, thought I had mentioned I didn't want to be in the pool of possibles!

So, here's a last minute, lameoid idea based on where I am: The Pacific NW.

Play any game involving the general area of the Pacific NW (specifically, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia), even to some extent, score 5 meta-points; add 3 MPs if you win said game. The game must somehow operate in the region mentioned, not just show it on a map (Russ to adjudge all disputes unless he is involved, in which case either JP or Willyum is next to judge; if they are not able to decide for whatever reason, roll a die);

Wear any article of clothing inidcating origin or idea regarding the same area, 2 MPs/aricle worn. (Shoes count for each one);

Sing a song about the activites routinely practiced in/indigenous to this area, 8 MPs/song sung (need I suggest a title?!);

Play a game designed by a company HQ'd in the above mentioned area, 15 MPs/game played; add 5 MPs if you win said game.

Scoring was pretty murky that evening. Here's what I got:

Transamerica (which includes Seattle on its map) was played by JP (the winner), Anderson, MarkG, Clayton, and SarahM.
MarkG wore a t-shirt with a comic bear and what could be argued is a Douglas fir. JeffF wore a Microsoft t-shirt and 2 Nike shoes.
A few song fragments were sung, but no full songs, so no points there.
Earthquake (made by Wizards of the Coast) was played by SarahM (the winner), Anderson, MarkG, and JP.

So it appears SarahM has the most meta points (25) and is the Meta Devil. Anderson tells me she won't be here next week, but attendance is of course not necessary for designing a Meta Game (heck, JimG was off in the Pacific Northwest this week).

Links

Matrix ping pong

The Bright Stuff by Daniel C. Dennett... I'm not fond of the word "bright" here, but I'm all for his main point.

Funny nature sex pictures and arty earth erotica photography

TV report about Hunting for Bambi