Tag Archives: games

Dec27

house of cards.

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learned a new card game
while hanging with family at christmas
when someone reads the rules
it does nothing for me
i learn best by trial and error
lots of trials
lots of errors
but i did somehow win my first game
with a combo
of good luck and a happy accident
nothing to do with strategy
 i’m fine with that
then got slaughtered in the next five games
by the kids
my hot streak might be over.
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“You’ve got to know when to hold ’emKnow when to fold ’emKnow when to walk awayAnd know when to runYou never count your moneyWhen you’re sittin’ at the tableThere’ll be time enough for countin’When the dealin’s done.”
-kenny rogers, the gambler
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photo credits: universal studios, facebook
Sep25

crack the whip.

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“crack the whip’ sculpture – sunset hills, flint, mi

j. seward johnson, sculptor

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being the youngest in our neighborhood gang

i was often the smallest

finding myself on the end of ‘the whip’ during this game

sometimes it felt like i was flying

and highly likely that i was.

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“being smart as a whip means knowing when not to crack it’

-vera nazarian

 

 

Apr18

dangerous games.

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oh, how i would have loved to see this exhibit

i played with each and every one of these games

and lived to tell. 

 

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“parents shouldn’t assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly.

kids don’t.

we do.”

-maurice sendak

Oct22

finally, a sport i can master!

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Living room acrobatics earn Peruvian inaugural Balloon World Cup

Anyone who has ever leaped over a couch to prevent a party balloon from touching the living room floor can now dream of parlaying those skills into a World Cup triumph.

Inspired by a series of viral videos and organized by Barcelona soccer playerGerard Pique and internet celebrity Ibla Llanos, the inaugural Balloon World Cup took place in Tarragona on Thursday.

Francesco De La Cruz emerged as the first champion after beating German Jan Spiess 6-2 in the final on a 8×8 meter court littered with living room furniture as well as a small car.

“I am very, very happy, I thank God that I have been able to achieve this,” said the Peruvian teenager.

The rules of the game are simple. Players have to hit the balloon in an upward direction and they score points if their opponent fails to prevent it from touching the ground.

Teams from 32 countries took part including an American team of Antonio and Diego Arredondo, whose videos of the game they played with their sister, Isabel, at home in Oregon were a huge hit on social media and inspired the tournament.

“We played the game as kids, and then, during the start of quarantine for Covid, we wanted to play it again,” Antonio Arredondo told Reuters.

“We started arguing with each other over if it hit the ground or not, so we started taking videos in slow-mo to see if it did, and then finally it got to the point of ‘Let’s post this video of us on Tik-Tok.’

“When I woke up the next morning, it was completely viral, like a million likes, and then after that we just decided to keep playing and played more and more until one of our rounds got the attention of Ibai and Pique.”

 Without sport, footballers turned to video games in 2020

Pique, who won a soccer World Cup with Spain in 2010, was delighted with how the inaugural tournament had gone. “It’s been amazing, it’s something totally different, sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone and try new things,” he said.

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“and with just 4 minutes gone, the score is already 0-0.”

-ian darke

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credits: reuters

Jul2

you say cicada, i say cicado.

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it’s been 17 years and they’re back!

they been sitting around underground

patiently waiting

for a dramatic return

no reason to stress

instead

our library has created a city-wide bingo game in their honor

what could be more fun?

and i’ve already got my free spot filled.

 

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Cicada Summer

Brood X has ARRIV- er, EMERGED from the depths to see YOU!!!! 

But have YOU seen THEM? HEARD them?? READ ABOUT THEM??? FOUND THEIR SHELLS???? 

If you have, you may have one or more boxes checked off on our CICADA SUMMER BINGO!!! 

From your friends at the Ann Arbor Public Libraries

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“i work even in the middle of the day, in the full sunshine, and i enjoy it like a cicada.”

-vincent van gogh

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source and photo credits: ann arbor district library, cicada@aadl.org

Feb19

candyland.

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the heat is on and a candyland championship game is in play

my absolute favorite game and the competition is tough 

there is no crying in candyland. 

 

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“life is like candyland, there are many paths to take,

sometimes you run into lord licorice, but the end will always take you to the candy castle.”

-jack barakat

 

 

 

ack Barakat

Dec3

more fun.

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mental floss has reached into their incredible research bag of treasures

to share some board games that may have had their time 

but alas, have not remained classics.

below are a few gems and i’m not saying i wouldn’t want to play them,

i am a huge fan of board games of all kinds –

 

Aside from Parker Brothers, few board game manufacturers have come close to Milton Bradley’s track record: Millions of players across multiple generations have put in serious time playing Twister, Yahtzee, The Game of Life, and Battleship.

But while games like Simon and Connect Four have kept up brand appearances over the decades, it’s possible that founder Milton Bradley might have flinched at some of the other titles that bear his name.

 BIG FOOT (1977)

The mythical woodland creature experienced a considerable amount of attention in the 1970s, including an encounter with Steve Austin on The Six Million-Dollar Man. (Andre the Giant was cast in the fur suit.) A famous and non-copyrightable beast made a perfect premise for a game in which players assumed the roles of Alaskan gold prospectors who roll dice while trying to avoid the “footprints” made by the monster. Although Bigfoot looks affable enough on the game box, his plastic game piece  appears to be anything but.

TOWN DUMP (1977)

It’s never too early to get a child used to playing with garbage. In this game, two players take turns winding up a miniature bulldozer that propels itself through pieces of trash and pushes them out of the way. The object appears to be to clear waste out of your dump and into your rival’s property, which imparts a valuable lesson: Let your discarded trash become someone else’s problem.

LOBBY: A CAPITAL GAME (1949)

“Here’s your chance to be a congressman! You can pass all your favorite bills and lobby against those you oppose.” Milton Bradley felt confident a game of governmental regulations and lobbying would be a hit with anyone “old enough to read a newspaper.”

 

 

“Life is more fun if you play games.”
― Roald Dahl, 

 

 

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Credits: Jake Rossen-Mental Floss, Milton Bradley Company, Ebay photos

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