Month: February 2017

Capricon 37- And The Children Shall Lead…

Wow, what an appropriate name for something I would post about! Capricon 37 (And The Children Shall Lead) was my first book signing (Yippee!!!), and my first ever panels.Capricon 2017

As of the pictures, I should explain those first. Upper left: King of Tokyo, a board game where monsters are fighting over the city of Tokyo. Upper Right: Me at my book signing. Lower Left: A dragon I bought at the Art Auction. I buy a lot of Cheryl Storm’s work, and this is one of her dragons. Lower Right: Tokaido, a board game (see previous post).

My panels were Writing For Kids and And The Children Shall Lead (named after the convention title for this year). I very much enjoyed both, shout out to my fellow panelists, especially in Writing For Kids where I was the only child on the panel. There is so much I could write about, from the food in ConSuite and Green Room to the artists in Dealer’s and Art Show to the activities I participated in. Instead I will simply suggest: Come join us at Cap next year!

I would write about Critter Crunch, but I unfortunately missed it this year due to conflicting panels. Sorry, Critter Crunch!

(By the way, I have been going to Cap every year since I was 6 months old.)

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Let’s Take A Ride On Old Serenity

Firefly is an old Joss Whedon show featuring Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Jewel Staite, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, and the late Ron Glass.

I won’t try to summarize this plot fully, as I doubt I could properly explain it. For reference, this show is older than I am, as the follow-up movie 2 years after the show was canceled is slightly younger than I am. This however, meant I grew up watching it on DVD. Those of you who have seen Firefly might find this concerning, as it isn’t so much a show for small kids. No, but neither is The Lord of The Rings, Doctor Who, or Stargate. Yet as a small child I watched and enjoyed all of these. Not to say I didn’t watch other things meant for kids, like My Neighbor Totoro and The Cat Returns (oh, the old days when Studio Ghibli wasn’t owned by Disney…). And of course, there were some shows somewhere in the middle (yes, Harry Potter, I’m talking to you).

The crew travels about, avoiding the Alliance, getting strange jobs, and braving rough adventures aboard their trusty Firefly class ship: Serenity. The captivating plot and loveable characters leave you craving for more.

Some of the actors have moved on to other shows that I have watched: Alan Tudyk, who played Wash, the pilot, voiced The Duke of Weselton in Frozen, Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, and Heihei, the chicken (and one of the villagers) in Moana.

I hope you enjoy this show as much as I do, and make sure to check out the links!

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Batman- the Dice Game!

Batman Dice is similar to Zombie Dice. The biggest difference is that in Batman Dice, you have a special character. That character is a Batman villain. They each have a super power, like Catwoman, who gets two points instead of one with blue cash.Batman Dice Game

There are three die rolls: Cash, Bat Signal, and the Doorbell. The Cash is like the brains in Zombie Dice, you want it. The Bat Signal is the shotguns, if you get three then all the cash you collected goes away. The Doorbell is like the footsteps, you just re-roll them.

I like the portability of this game. It is small, confined, and very fun. It comes in a round container that you also use as a dice cup. Just like Zombie Dice and Dino Hunt Dice, it uses the three normal symbols, granting that Zombie Dice also has a Christmas edition with some tweaks.

It is easier to pack for close spaces than to play in them. The dice make it hard to play without a given surface and a very controlled roll. I would not take this on an airplane, as there would be too much risk of losing the dice.

I also enjoy that they put in characters. This creates some diversity, which is a good contrast to Zombie Dice, where there are no special tweaks per player.

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Pink Hijinks

Pink Hijinks is yet another Looney Labs game. Kristin Looney had a deal: beat her at a game of Pink Hijinks, and you could keep it. Well, it took me three tries, but I won, and I got to keep the game.Pink Hijinks

My biggest highlight of this game is the portability. All nine pieces, the fabric board, the instruction manual, and the die fit in a small, pink, pyramid shaped zip-up bag with a clip for attaching it to stuff. I now have it attached to my school bag, so I can bring it wherever. One of my first days carrying it, I made a point of showing up in the library and playing it with the librarian. Clipped to the other side of my bag is my lunchbox, a white bag with the words “Human Organ for Transplant” printed in red. Ah, the good memories*.

Sometimes, the bottom edge of the pyramid shaped pieces snag on the fabric board, so one must be careful when moving pieces. As you play, it should eventually wear away the snags on the bottom of the pieces, taking this problem away.

Being portable, you can take this one into restaurants as well. You could play it with your friends during lunch, with your teacher during quiet time if you are done with your work, or with your cousin after school (all of these are applicable to me).

I enjoy Pink Hijinks and think that the portability makes it a big advantage, as you could also play it on an airplane during a long, boring flight (I have been on a lot of these). The other option is to fall asleep, since I doubt you are carrying enough books to last 9 hours (coming from a fast reader).

 

* The first time I brought this lunchbox to school, I had leftover chicken liver for lunch. I told all my friends that I had liver. They actually believed it! That says something about me, eh? When I opened my lunch, they asked me why it looked like that. I told them it was fried and breaded. When I ate it, they asked me how it tasted. Barely managing to keep a straight face, I responded, “Tastes like chicken!”

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