GEN Con Indy - Industry Insider Guests of Honor

Got this in the mail today, and it looks interesting - hope it fits into my schedule (August 13th and 14th)! Richard Borg did Memoir '44, and of course Reiner Knizia has designed dozens of hits.

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This year Gen Con is proud to present the following Industry Insider Guests. Individually or collectively they will be providing a diverse range of seminars and panels at this year's show including …

• Different Philosophies of Game Design
• The Do's & Don'ts of Rule Writing
• Religion, Fantasy & RolePlaying
• The Science of Humor
• Top 5 Best Gaming Products EVER!
• And more!!

Stop by Room 212 of the Indiana Convention Center to see, hear and join in the discussion! A full listing of topics and times can be obtained in the online Event Charts and onsite in the Program Book.

Industry Insider Guests are:

• Richard Borg
• Ben Clark
• Matt Forbeck
• Mike Gray
• Reiner Knizia
• Sheperd Paine
• Stan!
• Howard Tayler
• Matt Wilson
• James Wyatt

Slideshow of Kieron and Breon's Euro-Vacation

Here are more, as a slideshow (click here for ALL of them).

Eurotrotter: First half of week two: Berlin

To catch you up on the past few days:

We took the train from Paris to Berlin:


We arrived and are staying at a mansion on a lake called the Wannsee. It's on the far southwest corner of Berlin (it's the last stop on the rail line for Berlin).


Above is the view from my Dad's room, and him at the desk in his room (15 foot high ceilings)



This is the view from my room.

Breon (tonight at 8pm) will be on a panel discussing the new translation of The Tin Drum for German national radio.

As you can tell from my posts, I've done nothing except:

Talk
Eat
Play chess
Read The Odyssey

A great vacation!

Globetrotter Day 4

Today I walked to a nearby church (Notre Dame1) and caught the last few minutes of the noon Mass before they kicked out everyone (about twenty-five people).

The park next to the church had nice benches and a whole slew of Parisians biding their time. As the African woman next to me napped, I read my magazine ("The New Oxford Review").



Some observations in the "people watching" category:

1. I see no laptops. And I don't mean fewer laptops. I mean I've seen none - nada - zero. Not in any parks, not in any cafes.
2. There is a similar lack of people thumbing away at their cell phones. Surprising to me, since I thought that the text-message craze came from Europe...well, England at least.
3. In the park, people are actually READING BOOKS. It's crazy.

I went back to the Hotel about 2pm to meet back up with Breon, who had been out looking at more books. After fighting with the fraud department of his credit card (who found it hard to believe that anyone could be simultaneously buying high-dollar items in Canada and Paris), he was off for yet another go at it while I lounged in the room.

Now (7:45pm) we are back from dinner and in for the night (unless, having napped for a couple hours, we get all restless and decide to paint the town red sometime after 10pm).



1By the way, since "Notre Dame" means "Our Lady", there are a BUNCH of "Notre Dame"s in Paris. This was NOT the famous one.

Globetrotter Days 2 and 3

We arrived in Paris about 10am Tuesday, having flown about 8 hours from the Cincinnati airport (which is not only *not* in Cincinnati, it's not even in OHIO). As you can see from this photo at the Gate in cinci, it's easy to tell the difference between "native" Parisians and immigrant Parisians:



After checking into our hotel, we ate lunch at an (apparently famous) restaurant called "Le Dome"; just across the street from our Hotel. Dragging ourselves back to our room, we collapsed for an eight-hour nap.



Waking up about 10pm, we had a late dinner a few blocks away. We decided *not* to eat at the "Indiana".



Back to the hotel and back to bed for a good night's sleep.

Day three, and jet lag has been conquered! We go down to the hotel lobby for an all-you-can-eat breakfast; paid for as part of the price of the room.

Breon, having been told by a book dealer that morning that he "assumes you are in Paris for the book fair starting today"; decides we'd better go find it (at Place St. Sulpice, which is a group of permanent booths around a beautiful fountain in front of a huge church about four blocks from our hotel). We walk there and Breon systematically scours each booth for books while I sit in a nearby cafe catching up on my internet duties (facebook comments, mostly).



On the way there we see a Smartcar advertising the Sims3. I can't resist a picture (every time I take one, I feel like an offending tourist/rube...so I take much fewer than I otherwise would).



One thing I notice about Paris is that everyone is dressed just a bit nicer than I would expect a typical American to be dressed. It's very unusual to see someone in a T-Shirt and jeans (which is what I wore to Le Dome on the first night...imagine my charin when I looked around at everyone else in jackets and the waiters in black ties!). This guy was just doing some painting:



One cool thing is that you can somehow "share" bicycles. I was wondering what was going on when I saw a bunch of people riding what looked like very well-maintained bikes. I figure, after seeing the line-up of bikes pictured below, that it's one of those deals where you pay for the equivalent of *one* bike, and then you can always have one out. When you check one in, then you can take a different one later, or just leave it.

Globetrotter Day 1: Ellettsville, Indiana?!

Welcome, dear reader, to the beginning of my travelogue for my trip to France and Germany with my Dad (Breon). Here is the gist of the next ten days:

• He is going to do a reading/panel discussion for a book he is (re)translating (The Tin Drum) in Berlin on July 2nd for National Public German Radio (I'm sure I've got 50% of that wrong). That is the main reason for the trip.
• Before that we'll spend a few days relaxing and recovering from jetlag in Paris. We'll have dinner at a fancy restaurant w/ some friends of his, he'll go to some book stores to pick up some books he bought for his job (they are expensive, so it's better if they are hand-carried, I imagine).
• We'll take the train to Berlin and stay in a Villa on the Wannsee (apparently quite beautiful).
• In addition to the panel and book store visits, there are flea markets, museums, and book auctions to spend time at!

Tonight, I'm sleeping in the bedroom I had as a child (from age 11 up). It no longer has the sports-themed wallpaper, and there is really no hint that I ever inhabited it for a short 6 years, about 20 years ago.

The picture at the top of this entry is an example of the current decor.

Picture of Maddie in California in February 2009

From California 0209

My Dad and I are globetrotting (ok, maybe puddle-jumping) to Paris and Berlin this summer

My Dad and I are globetrotting (ok, maybe puddle-jumping) to Paris and Berlin this summer.

Arriving in Paris on June 23rd at 10am, and then Eurorailing to Berlin, and flying from there (on July 4th 7am) back to happy-Paris!

Molly in Florida

Apropos of nothing, I found this photo and wanted to share!

On the Road

Maddie, Emily, and Jenny

Off to the Cottages!

View Larger Map

Eddies, that is.

afraid of the weather

Battling snow and ice to get down to St. Meinrad...I arrive to find...INTERNET ACCESS!

Apparently, I was not retreating from it.

6 minutes until Lauds (or maybe it's Vespers, I'm not sure...I have a schedule but I'm too lazy to pull it out of my pocket). I'm probably going to be late if I don't leave soon.

This computer has three icons on it...the recycle bin...internet explorer...and FIREFOX. Hmmm...these Monks are a bit more savvy than one would expect.

More than half the retreatants decided to bag it and not come since they were afraid of the weather.

Better motor.

not exactly sure what I'm retreating from

I'm out for the next couple days - going down to St. Meinrad for a "retreat" (not exactly sure what I'm retreating from) until Sunday.

Pray for me (or wish me luck, depending on your bent)!

very bad role modeling

The girls went to Ft. Myers (Florida) while I was at GTF. They went PARA SAILING, and DEEP SEA FISHING.

And all during the school year...

What's up with that?

And with Courtney being the head of the school commission...very bad role modeling. <-- Actually, I just wrote that part since Court is looking over my shoulder as I write this.

now that's just CRAZY

Got back a week ago from my three days of fun-filled board game playing in KY with 18 other guys. Finished the "990" at work, which is like the 1040 for not-for-profits (and, in our case, due on 2/15).

Here's what else I've been doing instead of keeping you up-to-date (I'm a bad boy):

1. Read the Tao Te Ching (which is the second most translated book in the history of the world)...so now I've read #1 and #2...I wonder what #3 is...let's see: Maybe Euclid's "The Elements" or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (per the guiness book of world records) which probably shouldn't count as a BOOK. Turns out there is no consensus for #2...let alone #3.

2. Started (today) going down to Bloomy to teach a beginner's Tai-Chi class (I have one real student).

3. Continuing to fix my new laptop to make it do what I want it to do (really, a neverending process). Hay, that reminds me - what do you all use as video conference software (free, of course) - since I have this built-in webcam, now I want to use it.

4. Going to a (very) late-night bible study (it starts at 10pm on Tuesdays...now that's just CRAZY). It gets over the next day.

5. Getting more and more behind on my chess dues tracking. It's the kind of thing that if you get too far behind, you feel you can never catch up.

6. Doing my taxes. Which reminds me - I need to get back to that RIGHT NOW.

A great steak dinner

I ran out of my 10 free hours a couple days ago, so I'm blogging this w/o internet access (on Thursday, at 3:05p).

This morning, Court and the girls went to MGM studios while I slept in, talked with Cathy (my sister), and played Tichu. They got back about noon, and we've been hanging out - starting to pack, playing WW, etc.

Yesterday we got up "early" and arrived at Epcot about 9:20a. Maddie and Court went straight for the Test Track (which, as you'll recall, was busted the last time we tried to get on), while Molly and I went to Soarin' (a very fun hang-gliding simulator). Then we returned home about 1pm, my Dad and I going to mass at 6pm, and returning for a great steak dinner Lynda made which the adults ate late around the nice dinner table.

Walking from Morocco to Mexico

Kerry arrived a couple days ago, so we've been staying up late talking and playing games - no time for blogging.

Breon and Lynda arrive tomorrow - Steve is going to get them at the airport (if he can find it).

Yesterday we went to Epcot. The geodesic dome was closed (Spaceship Earth), they evacuated the "fastest and longest" Disney ride ever (Fast Track), the Mars mission was having "technical difficulties" to the point that people were bailing out of line after having waited 30 minutes. I half-jokingly suggested we try getting our money back. We capped off our evening by walking from Morocco to Mexico!

The day before yesterday Kerry arrived, and handed out gifts to the girls - nice pendants and T-Shirts. Rebbecca promptly lost hers, only to be rivaled by Kerry losing his cell phone (neither of which have been found yet). We think both are at Disney Quest.

On Sunday, I went to mass (along with, no joke, 1000 others) at a Marian shrine which has been around for 30 years - specifically devoted to the tourist population. It was very pretty, and well done, but a bit too much attention given to trying to raise money (in my opinion). I guess I understand, since they have no regular parishioners.

"Belinda's Mars Mud is really gooey and slimey. I touched it." Says Belinda.

"I want to get out!"

Just before I slink into bed, a quick entry.

Returned from MGM a couple hours ago. Rode the Tower of Terror. Belinda screaming, "I want to get out!" as it was going up (no way to stop things at that point). I felt a little like I hope how parents who take their kids to rated "R" movies feel during the adult scenes .

Tagged the "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" cache, returned a box fan (it broke since Court dropped it on a tile floor, and I had the gall to try and return it to the store...they took it back! We like Walgreens.)

Made smoothies a couple times today (Steve once, me once). They are pretty good, and easy to do.

We traveled to Florida to watch a movie

Yesterday we went to "Downtown Disney", I saw the "Bourne Whatever" (which was really a fun movie...good direction and camera work, fast car chases, high suspense, etc.) while the rest of the crew saw the Simpson's movie (which I had already seen).

Yes, we traveled to Florida to watch a movie.

Then we went to this 5-story video arcade. Once you paid at the door ($30 for the day), everything inside was free (and since we had "ultimate 14-day" passes, it was already all paid for for us). The most interesting game was a virtual roller coaster. You designed the coaster yourself, then you rode it!

Maddie and I rode it, and our "thrill level" was zero. That's right. Zero. Out of 5.

Molly and Rebbecca rode it 4 times, but couldn't get the thrill level above 4. The staff took pity on them and let them ride another's creation that was a 5. Needless to say, they loved it.

After we got back we Steve made a great fajita dinner for everyone, then we played a little texas hold'em tournament (after the children had gone to bed). Steve won, and I came in second.

Typhoon Lagoon

Just got back from 1/2 day at the Magic Kingdom - space mountain was cool. The kids are in the pool now.

Yesterday all day we spent at Typhoon Lagoon (Blizzard Beach being full).

Played Werewolf last night about 4 times, as well as Cloud Nine, and some other games.