Game Night, March 1, 2007

Starting with this Game Night, we decided to no longer serve dinner.

Game Night started in October of 2005 with a small group and dinner was provided as an incentive to grow the group, and the group has grown.

I believe that we have a nice size group which consists of people who love to get together each week with others to have fun, interact and play games. I'm sad to see the dinner portion of the evening end since it kicked everything off and gave everyone a chance to catch up and connect, before possibly spliting up into separate games for the evening.

I wil be very sorry if this change causes some people not to attend, however I am confidence that it will not and I do believe though that game night will continue and grow and evolve. soooo......


People in attendance were Marcus, Alan, Brian, Matthew, Thomas, John and Myself.

Alan, Marcus and Brian played a game of Settlers of Catan, which Alan won, then after they played a game of Traders of Genoa, which I believe Brian won.

Matthew, John, Thomas and myself played Fury of Dracula, with me being Dracula. This game lasted a few hours and ended with the hunters winning.

I want to thank everyone who attended and hope that they had a great time.

Adventures of Supeman on DVD

My first experience with the man of steel as a child was episodes of the Adventures of Superman in syndication.

George Reeves has been in my mind the iconic Clark Kent if not Superman.

The show was a simple half hour program with most episodes aimed at kids. I say most because the first season of the show (filmed in black & white) was made up of little "crime noir" dramas, that were very much aimed at an adult audience. Still to this day "The Haunted Lighthouse" still creeps me out a bit and the episode "The Evil Three" is just crazy. In these first season episodes you really believed that the cast of characters of Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Perry White, where is danger for their lives.

The second season, saw Noel Neill join the cast as Lois Lane, and a toning down of the violence on the show. Still in Black and White, and still with some pretty dramatic episodes, some later adapted to the comics such as "Panic in the Sky" and "Around the World with Superman". Also the second season introduced Kryptonite to the television episodes. During this season Jack Larson's Jimmy Olsen character was starting to take on a more comedic role, and due to his popularity a new Superman comic was created "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.

The Third season introduced cutting edge technology to the program "Color", although originally aired in black and white the producers of the show, were thinking ahead. Brilliant move on their part, this is very much part of the reason that the show has been in syndication all these years. It is noted that the third and fourth season were released in the same box set, since both were only 13 episodes long. With the these seasons all the edge had finally been eliminated from the show making into a "kid program". Although there are still quite a few gems to be found in this season as well. By the third season, this cast also melded perfectly and it shows on the screen.

The fifth and sixth seasons were released in one box set as well and like the previous two seasons they have a much similar tone. However some of the worst episodes can be found in this last box set, but there are also a few classics as well.

Also all the box sets include a special documentary and box sets one and two (seasons one and two also include a couple of audio commentaries)

The Documentaries are Adventures of Superman from Inkwell to Backlot (S1), The first Lady of Metropolis (S2), Adventures of Superman: The Color Era, Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Special Effects of Adventures of Superman, Look Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (excerpts) (S3,4) and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (S5,6)

The video quality of the episodes vary, some are crystal clear and brilliant in color and other appear muddy and washed out. The content however is magical, and wondrous. This is a great set for any Superman fan, especially if you grew up with this being your first Superman !

My Top 10 Episodes

The Haunted Lighthouse
The Stolen Costume
The Deserted Village
The Evil Three
The Defeat of Superman
Superman in Exile
Panic in the Sky
The Big Freeze
The Mysterious Cube
The Perils of Superman (Directed by George Reeves)

Worst Episodes
Through the Time Barrier
Mr Zero (This is Awful)
The Gentle Monster

Game Night, February 22, 2007

Another Game Night, In attendance was Marcus, Anna, Brian, Mike, Matthew, John, Thomas, Josh and Myself.

Dinner was a homemade minestrone soup , pizza and salad.

One Game consisted of Thurn and Taxis in which John, Brian, Thomas and I played. John won that game.

The other game was Memoir '44 which Mike and Matthew played. Mike won that one.

Josh arrived late and played a game of To Court The King with Anna. Anna won.

Then after John, Brian, Josh, Thomas and Myself played a game of Railroad Tycoon. John won that game.

Game Night, December 28, 2006

Marcus, Anna, Ted, Trina, Brian, Michelle, Whitney, Megan and Myself attended game night this week.

We started the evening off with dinner which consisted of lentil soup and panini sandwiches for dinner.

We split into two groups, Anna, Megan, Whitney and Myself played the Barbie Queen of the Prom Game(yes, I played the Barbie game). Megan won this game.

While we played that game, Marcus, Brian, Ted and Trina played Tsuro, I do not know who won. They had time to play a game of Bonnanza, with Michelle joining in, again I don't know who won that game.

Lastly we all played three games of Werewolf.

I just want to thank everyone for attending and I hope you had a great time.

My First Hunting Trip Prt 1 August 31, 2006

I have lived in Idaho for approximately two years now. In that time I have met some wonderful people and started some great friendships.

Two of these new friends of mine are Mike Hudson and Robert Purcell. I met both of them in a working relation doing appraisals for their firm Intermountain Home Loans in Pocatello.

Mike has lived in Nebraska, Montana and Idaho during his life and participated in many outdoor activities throughout his life being taught these by his Grandfather.

Rob has lived in Idaho most of his life leaving for a time to serve in the military.

Mike approached me one day and asked if I would be interested in going on a Grouse hunting trip with them? Being open to new things I said I would be interested.

Now I have gone camping in the past, many times and Hiking but I have never shot a gun in my life. I agreed to the trip, because I have enjoyed my life here in Idaho and wanted to immerse myself in the Idaho culture, which a large part is hunting and Fishing.

In preparation for the trip I had to get a hunting license and that meant finally getting my Idaho drivers license. I have been putting this off for some time, thinking that this would be the one factor which made up my mind about going back to Massachusetts. Well I guess I’ve made my decision.

Mike and Rob said that they would provide everything I needed for the trip; I just had to bring appropriate clothing, good pair of boots, a sharp knife and flashlight. I had all that so I was ready for the trip.

The trip would take place from August 31^st to September 3^rd, since Grouse season started on the 1^st.

Well Thursday the 31^st finally came around , I went into the office, were we share space with Intermountain Home Loans and worked until about 1:00 pm , then Mike came round to my desk and said it was time to leave. From there we went to Mike’s house to pack the gear, which included a homemade camp box which contained, dishes, pots, pans, towel holder, and other essentials for cooking out of doors. We also packed up mattress pads, sleeping bags, a white gas cook stove, a white gas lantern, fishing poles, and gear, and a shotgun.

We got all this into Mike’s old ’77 Scout, gassed up, got ice and went on our way. We were heading south along Route 15 heading to the Pebble creek camp area in Caribou National Forest. The trip was slow going since we were traveling at 55 mph almost the entire way. The area we were headed towards is located just outside of Lava Hot Springs proper. It’s off Route 30 six miles in, through open cattle range area.

When we got to the camp ground it was evident that it was going to be a busy place this weekend since almost all the sites and been reserved. However Rob had gone ahead of us and found a nice shady site and had also already set up the tent and the gear that he brought.

Mike and I started taking his gear out of the Scout, and Steve Klauser and His son Kiefer showed up in his RV (RVs are a big thing in this part of the country). Mike had mentioned that they would be joining us for the weekend for Hunting.

It a good thing to since Mike’s camps stove and lantern were not working, Rob and Mike left to see if they could find parts to repair them and left me at the camp site, while Steve went to look for a space. A while later Steve and his Son showed up and we talked for quite a while and it was getting late. Steve offered his bug lanterns and we went to his RV to get them, went back to our camp, set them up and Steve started the fire. It’s a good thing, since on all the camping trips I was ever on; someone else always started the fire.

As the sun started to set, we all became very aware that it was getting quite cold out!

Finally Mike and Rob returned, unsuccessful in finding the parts they needed. So Steve lent us a lantern.

Mike was disappointed that the camp stove was not working since that meant he would be cooking dinner over the fire. He had made homemade Pasties for everyone for dinner and was going to serve them with gravy.

Well they were all wrapped in foil so he just threw them directly onto the hot coals, and started the gravy in a saucepan over the fire.

In about 45 minutes everything was done and Mike served it up in bowls. I had a beef pasty and it was great, really good, not the first one for me either so I did have a reference for comparison and Mike’s were very good.

After dinner we all sat around the camp fire (very close since it was freezing now) and talked, Steve had a couple of beers and Mike and Rob had a little of George Dickle Whiskey.

Around Ten we all turned in and man I have to tell you it was really very difficult to get to sleep that night, I was in a sleeping bag, with my clothes, a hooded sweatshirt, and a stocking cap, and I was still freezing, it had to be a couple of hours before I was able to get to sleep and all the while I just kept thinking that I if I could get to sleep I wouldn’t know how cold it was.

But sleep did finally come………………

The Devil's Rejects

I Just watched this film last evening and WOW! Although this is a sequel to Rob Zombie’s first film House of a 1000 Corpses, this film really stands up all by itself. In everyway that 1000 Corpses was cliché this film is original, and although it was billed as a horror film by many, it transcends that genre to become something more.

Back again are the evil family of killers known as The Devil’s Rejects. And although they were pretty much 70s horror movie caricatures in the first film, in this film they are characters. Rob Zombie brings them to life, gives them personality and very unexpectedly makes you care about these killer misfits.

Also in this film Rob Zombies is trying to say something about horror and fear. In this film the horror can be found in unexpected places and unexpected people.

The film has a very 70s look about it, not just in the set pieces but the cinematography also, as well as a really cool soundtrack which is utilized perfectly throughout the film.

Yes this is a horror film, as evidenced by the gore and the brutal torture and killings, which take place with painful glee through the film. However if you can look past that and see the real meat of the story, you will find one excellent film.

I can honestly recommend this film to any fan of Horror, but more surprisingly I can recommend it to anyone who just wants to watch a good movie.