November 12 2003 RussCon Report

News

Looks like JP & I both are playing hooky and skipping the Houston Go Tournament this weekend and going to Allen's party (don't tell Beth) instead.

La TTK sukcesis! Alia Esperanta novaĵo estas ke mi lastatempe tradukis kelkajn bildstriojn ĉe userfriendly.org, kaj Leto el mia oficejo ankaŭ komencis, al la tokipona!

I've sold more of my games to RussCon friends. (Allen and Robby still need to pick theirs up, nudge nudge. If I remember, I'll take 'em to Allen's party.) If anyone else is interested, here is the current list. Also if anyone wants some of these vinyl records for your listening pleasure, I'd be happy to pass them along, and I'm going to go sell the rest when I get off my lazy ass and do it. And those 2 butt monsters are gone, baby, gone, a fine white elephant birthday gift for a friend at work!

Game Results

PuertoRico	4	RussW 3 JP 1 Fina -1 Whendy -3
Tichu	2	( Ben MarkG ) 1 ( MarkH Tim ) -1
NewEngland	4	Matt 3 JimG 1 Clayton -1 Carly -3
Acquire	5	Tim 4 RussW 2 JP 0 Whendy -2 Fina -4
Tichu	2	( MarkH MarkG ) 1 ( MarkY Ben ) -1
GhostParty	4	RussW 3 Whendy 1 Tim -1 Fina -3
Raj	3	Tim 2 RussW -1 Whendy -1
Can'tStop	2	MarkY 1 William -1
Bluff	4	William 3 RussW 1 MarkY -1 Whendy -3
Samarkand	3	MarkG 2 RussD 0 JP -2
Amun-Re	4	JimG 3 Clayton 1 Matt -1 Carly -3
Rummikub	4	William 3 RussW 1 Whendy -1 MarkY -3

Sadly, that guy who brings all the games didn't show up this time, so no Alhambra, alas!

That was certainly one of my better Puerto Rico performances! Pretty fast game too; the colonists started coming out in large numbers. The most VPs earned (from shipping) were 15 (JP) and I had 11 if I recall. I earned 11 points also just from the Fortress (1 extra VP per every 3 colonists), which I found is a nice combination with the Hospice. I also did my usual Small and Large Market thing.

Ghost Party seems to be having a resurgence of interest lately. Good old Hugo!

Rummikub proved to be enjoyable again, even though it's a more old-fashioned traditional game than we normally play.

A reminder that kibbitzing is a Bad Thing unless all parties involved agree that kibbitzing is welcome.

Ratings

Rank Ratings:     
 3.8712 RussW
 2.4849 MarkG
 2.0794 William
 1.7918 JimG
 1.6094 Tim
 0.9808 Matt
 0.0000 Ben
 0.0000 MarkH
 0.0000 RussD
 0.0000 Clayton
-0.6931 JP
-1.7918 MarkY
-2.7726 Carly
-3.4012 Fina
-3.8712 Whendy

Win Ratings:
 2.4849 MarkG won 3 of 3
 2.0794 William won 2 of 3
 1.7272 Tim won 2 of 4
 1.5686 RussW won 2 of 6
 1.0986 JimG won 1 of 2
 1.0986 Matt won 1 of 2
 0.0000 Ben won 1 of 2
 0.0000 MarkH won 1 of 2
-0.4055 RussD won 0 of 1
-0.5754 Clayton won 0 of 2
-0.5754 MarkY won 1 of 4
-0.5754 Carly won 0 of 2
-0.7985 Fina won 0 of 3
-0.9163 JP won 0 of 3
-1.7793 Whendy won 0 of 6

MarkG and I are Co-Devils! William is Vice-Devil. JimG and Tim are Co-Vice-Vice-Devils. Then Matt, then Ben and MarkH. Whendy complained she was losing a lot, and sure enough she is the Generous Angel. Ben and MarkH win the rare and coveted Extra Average Award!

This was an unusually tall thin partial order this week!

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

Meta Game

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

bazaar THE BAZAAR METAGAME

I had dinner last night at the wonderful Ararat middle eastern restaurant on North Loop:

Ararat
http://austin.citysearch.com/profile/10232514/

and I realized how much I enjoy games with a trading/bargaining theme. So, this week's metagame encourages you to play games associated with the trading culture of the middle eastern bazaar.

For each different game you play, receive:

2 metapoints if it contains references to a bazaar
1 metapoint if it involves trading
1 metapoint if it involves bidding or haggling over prices
1 metapoint if it involves money (that can be spent and earned, not just victory points)
1 metapoint if it involves a desert
1 metapoint if it involves camels

If you brought the game, add an additional metapoint.

If you play a game that has never been played before at Russcon, add an additional metapoint.

The person with the most metapoints is the winner. Ties broken randomly.

The largest meta point profit's in Samarkand, of course, earning 6 meta points for MarkG, RussD, and JP. Several other games earned various lesser amounts; Matt & I reckoned the final meta scores as follows:

9 JP
6 MarkG Matt RussD RussW Whendy
5 Carly Clayton JimG
2 Tim
1 MarkY William

So JP is the Meta Devil and will design next week's Meta Game!

Links

This sand animation movie sicaf_sand.wmv for SICAF (Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival) 2003 may be slow to download, but it is amazing to watch. Very cool and beautiful and impressive. It sounds to me like the soundtrack music is by Kitaro.

Make your own comics with components from the Bayeux Tapestry!

CIA's Homepage for Kids: Ginger's CIA Adventure

Census data on name distributions

Roman Horseless Chariot at Burning Man, pulled by Egyptian mares.

http://www.111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.com/

Prison comment card