Pancake Day

So hubby-Eric and I went down to IHOP for our Free Pancakes. Service was slow. The restaurant was clearly understaffed for the day. We had the free pancakes and some extras... enough that my stomach is still crying in overstuffed pain.

Before heading down to IHOP, hubby-Eric and I played Pirateer. It's an easy one to play, and the instructions are all on-line (click on the "Service" link). In fact, the entire game is on-line (under "Service" and "Free Demo"). With Pirateer, you play one of four groups with a three-ship fleet. You race your opponents to Skull Island to claim the treasure and return home... or chase your opponents to sink their ships. Or both. In our first training game, I managed to sink all of Eric's ships. In our second game, with both of us playing two fleets, he completely outclassed me and brought the treasure home.

After that, I had to open my new copy of Quarto, and Eric asked to play a round. So I whipped his butt. I'm sure the next game we play he'll beat me. He wasn't familiar with the game, so I played with my often advantage of knowing the rules very well while my opponent is just learning. Quarto is a game in which you attempt to get four pieces in a row with a single attribute in common. The trick with Quarto is that you don't get to pick your own piece, your opponent picks the piece you play for you... and you pick the piece your opponent plays. So you can set up a winning play as long as you don't give your opponent the winning piece. I love the game because it's strategic and it's a beautiful game made of wood.

I also pulled out my dice collection and gathered a few games together, including my Dino Dice, which Eric rolled to remember how to play. Dino Dice is a set of five dice with different dinos on the sides. You attempt to form herds of the same type of dino without getting eaten by the hungry Rexes. As his dinos got eaten, Eric said, "Nom nom nom".

So we still need to learn Blokus and Quits. And I need to gather a few other games to take, and refresh my memory of how to play them. Anyone wanna come over to my place for a game night?

Monday Night Thoughts

If you are feeling like having some pancakes, IHOP Free Pancake Day is tomorrow, February 12th 2008.

The minicity I've been following, Pontoon, now has industry! So the Pontoonians have gone from being farmers to... um... building things? I wonder when the transportation link will become active? SimCity via links.

I would switch "Love Poem" and "Chocolates", but otherwise this Savage Chickens cartoon has it pretty right.

GO PIA! YES! Pia Guerra to work on Doctor Who! AWESOME! If it sounds like I'm thrilled for this, it's because I am.

Why Aren't You In Newspapers? Bill of Unshelved (one of the best webcomics out there) explains the situation. Incidently, if anyone wants to buy me this, it'll go great with my Library T-Shirt.

Comic Strip Protest Round Up.

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #141: Storm, Magick, and Supergirl. Also see: Comic Book Urban Legends Addendum, on Super-Menace.

Michael Sensei links to YouTube Wallace and Gromit commercials from Japan. Now I'm amused.

Woody Guthrie bootleg recording restored.

Slashdot has a fascinating article on how laws ought to be "developed".

The Doctor Who LOL Macros group has been having a meme going 'round of "Terrifying Pertwee". It starts here.

He quit Aquaman for this? *sigh* I'm utterly uninterested.

In more somber news, Steve Gerber.

Free Pancakes

Uh-huh. Free.

Shrove Tuesday:

The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs can be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, sugar and flour are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes were therefore the perfect way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.

Hubby-Eric and I headed out to the nearest IHOP, in Lynnwood, expecting a crowd. Nope. There were maybe a half dozen folks in the whole restaurant aside from the staff. We got great attention from our server, who made sure to mention the free pancakes. We each got a stack of free pancakes with a side of bacon and orange juice, then we let ourselves be talked into fruit toppings (apple for Eric, blueberry for me).

The stack of pancakes was HUGE. I've been so careful with my food intake recently that three pancakes was nearly too much. I would've been fine without the side. I do believe my pancakes had blueberries in them, as well. I will note that the pancakes themselves were free, but the bacon, orange juice, and fruit was not. We left a tip for the server and a donation for the Children's Miracle Network, and came out ... well, not with a free breakfast, but certainly a good one.

Huzzah for Fat Tuesday! I think maybe we'll have to participate this way next year, if we can.