European Board Games Marathon

On my way to the new bus stop (with new route number), I and others near the Third Street Promenade were given Bloomingdale’s shopping bags in promotion for the reopening of the renovated Santa Monica Place on Friday 6 August 2010. The beige canvass bag with orange lettering was my first freebie on a day in which I would be playing games. Yes, another trip to Mar Vista and another day of board games (actually most of the games I played didn’t have boards). It was a day of old games, new games, and variations on games – just the typical games afternoon.

After arriving at St. Bede’s and signing in with Brian, I began an afternoon of game playing – “Dixit” (old), “Bubble Talk” (new/variation), “Perudo” (new), “Ticket To Ride” (new), “Diamant” (old), and “Liar’s Dice” (new/variation). I’ll be kind and I won’t go into detail on all the games, just three of the new ones I played – “Bubble Talk”, “Perudo”, and “Ticket To Ride”. For the record, six of us played “Dixit” and I came in third; out of the six players of “Diamant”, I tied with one other person for second; and in “Liar’s Dice” I came in fourth out of five players. No last place for me today!

The first new game of the day was “Bubble Talk” and Brian enthusiastically introduced it. Six of us played “Bubble Talk” – including me, there was Brian, Michael, Mike, Patrick, and Stacey. “Bubble Talk” is a “…game in which players match silly quotations to photographs. One player per round judges which one is the best or funniest. The game comes with a variety of photographs and cards with quotation "bubbles." . - boardgamegeek.com. It is similar to “Apples To Apples” only visual in nature instead of definitional. The pictures are amusing, but the many quotations (e.g. “Oh don’t pretend you don’t like it”, “You will feel my wrath”, or “The things I’ll do just for some chocolate”) become really funny when paired with the wacky photos. In this game the winner was Mike, with Brian a close second and Patrick coming in third. The rest of us tied for fourth place. Although I like “Apples To Apples”, if there is a choice between playing it and “Bubble Talk”, for the time being I will choose “Bubble Talk”. The combination of visuals and words hits the right chord with my brain.

Of the six games I played today, “Perudo” had the largest number of participants. There were eight of us - Aaron, Brian, Gilly, Michael, Michael P., Mike, Stacey, and of course me. “Perudo” is a game of dice and “The object of perudo is to be the last player with a die or more.” - boardgamegeek.com. “Perudo” is a variation of “Liar’s Dice” and though I actually won this game - it came down to a duel (diel? dicel?) between me and Aaron – I don’t think I’ll be seeking to play it often. Does become somewhat tedious quickly, but I liked the color coordinated cups and dice. Glad to learn a new game, but I guess the dice game that I prefer is “Yahtzee”, though I haven’t played it in a long time.

A real board game finally came my way – “Ticket To Ride” – and the others joining in were Aaron, John, Michael, and Sky. And what happens with a “Ticket To Ride”? “Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route." - boardgamegeek.com. Have only played a couple of other train games and unfortunately I can’t remember their names – I think the object in one was to build railroad tracks. In this game I completed two destinations, tied with Michael for the longest route (though neither of us received any points), and placed third overall. And I accomplished all this while playing the board upside down! Would definitely play this game again.

During the last game of the day for me (“Liar’s Dice”), Brian made his usual 5:00 p.m. announcements regarding future game days and the naming of today’s four game prize winners. And he had a giveaway of packets of the “Racer Knights Of Falconus” card game for everyone in attendance – my second freebie of the day. The best announcement Brian made was that he and Jen are expecting their second child in January! Congrats to them! As “Liar’s Dice” was ending and the group role-playing game “Werewolf” was beginning, Jen, Finn, and Lynn arrived. Visited with Jen and Finn for a bit before taking Lynn up on her offer of a ride home. Had a pleasant ride with Lynn and she graciously dropped me off near the Whole Foods Market in my part of town, before doubling back to the one in hers. Bought food for dinner and happily walked home after another fun day of game playing and learning.


Images:
Left: Box cover of “Bubble Talk” from the website boardgamegeek.com
Center: Box cover of “Perudo” from the website boardgamegeek.com

Right: Box cover of “Ticket To Ride” from the website boardgamegeek.com

Happy Birthday Belgium!!!

Originally I was planning on writing about my first celebration of Belgium’s Independence Day; however, in looking over some material, I discovered that out of the years I lived in Belgium/France, only twice did I actually spend that day in Belgium (and one of those was when I was officially living in France!). So for all my Belgian friends and any other celebrants, here are the mainly non-Belgian ways I celebrated Belgium’s special day while living there. Truly had no recollection I spent those days out of the country until I began researching this post.

The first 21st July was in my future home city of Paris. Hanging out in the sixth arrondissement and enjoying the Rive Gauche were the objectives of the weekend visit. And despite the early wake up call from the market place beneath my hotel window (never saw the stalls!), the hanging and enjoying were most satisfactorily obtained. Anyway, I was staying next to Belgium, so that should count for something, right?

However, for the second 21st July I was nowhere near Belgium. Spent the morning visiting the Ateneum Museum and in the afternoon taking a guided bus tour and two of the stops were the Sibelius monument and the Rock church. Where was I? Give up? The Nordic capital city of Helsinki was that year’s place of visitation. But Belgium was in my thoughts for in the evening I wrote postcards to the Eurodesk (remember that name?!) and to Philippe Lambrechts (where is he these days?).

The third 21st July found me back in France, but this time in the southern part of the country attending the Festival d’Avignon. Spent the day exploring the first walled city I’ve ever visited and the whole trip was of full of fun and frivolity. One highlight was walking on the almost destroyed Saint Bénézet bridge (or Avignon bridge), as in the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon”, and looking over the Rhône river.

For the fourth 21st July it was a trip to the Iberian Peninsula that took me away from Belgium. Specifically, the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition was the attraction for my first trip to that part of Europe and it was my first exposition as well. Walking and aching, standing and waiting are the realities of a world expo! Lisbon did a good job and I came away with strategies for attending any future world exposition – one is to immediately, on your first day, go to the main gift store and buy souvenirs/exposition passport booklet. I also took time to see the beautiful Lisbon buildings and areas around where I was staying – if only my camera was working – sigh, sigh.

Return to Iberia was the theme for the fifth 21st July. Now it was to Madrid that I went and this trip my camera was working and inadequately capturing the beauty of the buildings in that capital city. No special event brought me here – just the wish to see Madrid and to visit the museums, such as the Prado.

Finally, the sixth 21st July was spent in Belgium! The only activity I have a record of is seeing the film “Gladiator” at the UGC/Toison d’Or in Brussels and the ticket price was two hundred Belgian francs. At least the film was in keeping with the day’s idea of independence – the quest for personal freedom and the toppling of tyranny.

Seventh 21st July was a return to France for the third time and back to Paris. The afternoon was spent walking around Père Lachaise cemetery on a guided tour. After all these years of wandering around Père Lachaise on my own, I finally decided to be guided and the tour did go to areas I had missed. Plus, once again, Jim Morrison’s grave had been moved - a dead rocker is impossible to keep in one place. Speaking of music, the evening’s activity was listening to the classics. Went to Parc André Citroën to hear the Orchestre National d’Île de France play Ludwig von Beethoven’s Symphony number 6 (“Pastorale”) and a piece from a Richard Strauss opera.

For the eighth and final 21st July, I was in Brussels and apparently did nothing worthy of note. Perhaps it was just a day of reflection on life in Belgium. Anyway, even though I did not stay in Belgium for the first Independence Day I could have experienced, I was here for the last and had a quiet one.

There it is - my saga of the date 21st July. And though I never really celebrated Belgium’s special day, being in the country gave me the opportunity for exploring other places and for that I am grateful. Celebrate well this day of Belgium!!!

Belgium’s Motto:
Eendracht maakt macht (Dutch)

L'union fait la force (French)

Einigkeit macht stark (German)

"Strength through Unity" (or literally, "Unity makes Strength")

Images:
Left: Leffe Blonde from the website en.wikipedia.org
Center: Flag of Belgium from the website en.wikipedia.org
Right: Callebaut candy bar from the website chocosphere.com

La Fête Nationale

My first experience of Bastille Day was in Paris while on a travel/study program through the University of California, Berkeley. Recollections are hazy, but I remember celebrating with other program students in the general area of Place De La Bastille (near my future neighborhood); taking a break from the immense, jostling crowd and eating a pita on a stoop off Boulevard Henri IV; being startled by the small firecrackers the French were throwing on the ground in the midst of people – crazy! From La Bastille we somehow ended up on the Champs-Élysées (probably via the over-packed Metro) and were amazed by the squeezing in and the shouts of people on that ionic avenue. Although we were “enjoying” the novel experience of the French festivities, soon enough the group decided to head back home. Supposedly the Metro was to be running until 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m.; though we waited a long time, with tens of others, on the platform in Roosevelt for a train that never came. The only thing to do was walk. So my first Bastille Day ended with walking from the eighth arrondissement to the sixteenth arrondissement in the company of fellow students and other celebrants trying to reach our respective homes. It was one of the longer walks I’ve taken in Paris, but I wouldn’t have missed the whole, insane, claustrophobic, noisy night for anything – not even for a really good red Bordeaux. Vive La France!

“Happy Bastille Day!!!” graphic created by Adrean Darce Brent

Reel Rewind: “Millennium: The Story”

English title – “Millennium: The Story” / Swedish language title – “Årtusende: Den Berättelsen”
As I do not speak, read, or write Swedish, the Swedish language title was obtained through an online translation site. Thought it would be interesting to see the film title in the subject’s language.

I suppose it is somewhat incongruous to watch a documentary about a man of whom I haven’t heard, who wrote books I haven’t read, and which were made into films I haven’t viewed. However, that lack of knowledge makes me an objective person to watch Stieg Larsson’s life unfold on the screen - no perceived ideas or opinions of the man or his work to influence my reactions. In all fairness, I must admit that I have visited Sweden and found that I liked what I saw of the country.

The core of “Millennium: The Story” surrounds the trilogy of crime novels written by Stieg Larsson which have become a literary phenomenon never before seen in Sweden. The books have been translated into twenty-five languages and are available in forty countries. Probably should pay more attention to contemporary literature, as somehow I missed the whole super hype of Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women), Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden (The Girl Who Played With Fire), and Luftslottet Som Sprängdes (The Air Castle That Blew Up). Larsson’s books were subsequently made into films – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, “The Girl Who Played With Fire”, and “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest”.

From the documentary, a picture arises of a man whose life’s passion was the fight against the extreme right and neo-nazism in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. He conducted this fight through the pages of the quarterly magazine, Expo, of which he was the editor. Larsson’s stand against the neo-nazis made him a target of attack and he was so protective of his long-time girlfriend, Eva Gabrielsson, that he didn’t marry her in order to keep her from being directly connected with him. However noble that decision was, it has caused inheritance controversy in Sweden. Because they weren’t marry and Larsson didn’t name her in a will, Eva does not receive any money from the books or films – it all goes to Larsson’s father, Erland and his brother Joakim. Eva has a project with a Danish film director to do the story of Stieg Larsson’s life.

Erland and Joakim recount Stieg’s childhood in northern Sweden from living with his grandparents until age nine, to getting a typewriter for his twelfth birthday (sharing the noise of it with Joakim in their bedroom!), to winning an argument with Erland at age fourteen, and to trying to choose between being a journalist or a writer – Stieg ended up being both. Despite the unexpected inheritance, both Erland and Joakim are still living simply and the money stays in a bank. They may give some of the money to Expo and are considering projects that have been proposed to them. There is no mention of Eva in terms of any money for her. I wonder what Stieg would say.

In his novels, Larsson uses Stockholm as the setting for the story. The documentary shows a tour group who are visiting the actual places mentioned in the books and which had meaning in Larsson’s own life. It was good to see familiar landmarks that I remember from my trip to Stockholm much too long ago. Larsson has all “the good guys” live in one part of Stockholm and “the bad guys” live in another – an actual dividing line between good and evil which is not found in the real world. Larsson’s world consisted of exposing the extreme right, writing fiction and non-fiction books, loving and protecting Eva, sleeping little, eating poorly, and smoking between sixty and eighty cigarettes a day. If Larsson actually smoked eighty cigarettes for twenty-four hours straight, that would be a little more than one cigarette every twenty minutes. No doubt that level of smoking contributed to his untimely heart attack and death.

“Millennium: The Story” cycles between the tour group, Larsson’s family, his international rights agent, his publisher, the writers at Expo, a financial backer, and film goers throughout the documentary. Although there are some subtitles, much of the film is dubbed in English and at times the actual footage is not as sharp as usually seen on the screen. But I did like what I learned about Stieg Larsson and it is truly unfortunate that he did not live to see the world wide impact of his novels, though I suspect Larsson would prefer a world wide impact on ending the extreme right.

This free screening of “Millennium: The Story” was a Laemmle theatre promotion for the opening of the second film in the trilogy – “The Girl Who Played With Fire”. Following the documentary, the first film – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” – was shown, but I did not stay to watch it. Glad I saw the documentary and happy to know something about the man behind the three novels.


Film Facts: Director: Laurence Lowenthal, Production Companies: Impact Presse, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie

Film Type: Documentary, Length: 53’, Languages: Swedish, English, French, Country: Sweden, Year: 2009


Images:
Left: Photo of Stieg Larsson from the website travelbetweenthepages.files.wordpress.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Millennium: The Story” created by Adrean Darce Brent

Right: Poster of “Millennium: The Story” from the website dragontattoofilm.com