Another victim claimed

An article by Don Quixote    2 Comments

So I had a chance to have lunch with Regan Clem and Eric Vitz. Both braved public ridicule to be seen with me (though we made sure to sit way at the back of Apple Bees so as to avoid being a spectacle for others to gawk at), so I sprang for lunch (though I was wise enough to wait until they both had ordered and turned down desert before I made the offer).

It was a little awkward at first (at least from my end of things) since I hadn’t seen Eric in over 4 years, and Regan in almost that long, add to the mix Regan had some fun on his blog this morning which added to the tension. However by the end of the meal (and the fact that I offered to pay) things seemed more at ease. Regan and I offered to teach Eric how to play Settlers of Catan (well, Eric said we had to get him hooked on board games), but he was pressed for time. So Regan and I were going to head to the mall and play some board games (it didn’t occure to me until just now that DUH his family owns the store there), so I said I could stop by the house and get some games for us to play.

Well, somehow it turned into Eric and Regan stopping by the house, which after a short tour turned into Regan and I giving Eric a short demo of Settlers of Catan (after all, he did have to get back to work).

Fifteen minutes in, Eric was hooked. It was a close game. I had taken an early lead with 4 settlements and the longest road; it looked like I was well on my way to victory. Well, Eric was to have none of that and faught hard to get and the Longest Road and keep it for the rest of the game. Regan established himself early on as the Mac Daddy of Ore, I was the wheat and sheep king, but Eric had just the right balance to take the lead and press on. He started stock piling development cards and we knew the rush was on.

Regan fought hard having 4 cities and a settlement pushing is total to 9 for the lead. I had battled up to 8 victory points and only need two pieces of road to win the game. However, in a masterful sweep of over kill, Eric played his 3rd solider to take the longest army and then turned over two additional victory points to win the game with 11. A good time was had by all, and another Catan victim was claimed.

In order news, I watched a few other movies yesterday I’d like to make report on:

Hellboy
Overview from Movies.com: “Based on Mike Mignola’s comic, Hellboy is about a demon summoned to Earth by Russian monk Rasputin as part of a Nazi experiment in 1944. A scientist rescued the creature and raised him to be a force of good. Now an adult, Hellboy works within the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. When Rasputin, thought to be dead, retuns to plan the destruction of mankind, it’s up to Hellboy and his friends Liz Sherman, a woman who can control fire, and Abe Sapien, an amphibious humanoid, to stop him.”

Again, I am a sucker for most things comic book related. If it was a comic book that became a movie I’m going to see it (well, Barbwire & Catwoman I aside, I just cannot bring myself to watch them). I really liked Hellboy, it was fun and action filled, certainly a rental and possibly a DVD purchase if you’re into that kind of thing.

Peter Pan
Overview from Movies.com: “This update of James M. Barrie’s beloved children’s book tells a familiar story: One night, young London siblings Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood), John (Harry Newell), and Michael Darling (Freddie Popplewell) encounter a strange flying boy named Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter). He invites them to come to Neverland, a place without adult supervision and full of freedom. A fairy named Tink (Ludivine Sagnier) gives them the power to fly, and soon they’re soaring off to Neverland, where they explore with Peter and his mates, the Lost Boys. But the fun and games come to a stop when they face a mean band of pirates, led by the nasty Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs), an evil man who looks a lot like their dad.”

Now originally I got this movie for the boys and it was a total fluke that I even watched it this weekend. See, what I normally do is put 5 DVDs in the player, shuffle them and then have Michelle pick a random number – then that’s what we watch. I must say I wasn’t expecting a whole lot but I was really impressed. I had never really looked at the story of Peter Pan that way. Mind you, it was almost the exact same as the Dinesy one, but I had never thought of how Neverland was a project of Peter Pan, that Hook was his anger, Tinkerbell, his jealousy, Wendy his love. It was all rather interesting. So certainly a great one for the whole family.

So there you have it, the day is turning out to be okay after all. I’m looking forward to game night this evening, so that should be a good time. Other than that, that’s all I got.

P.S. – For the most part I’ve been avoiding getting into any confrontations with anyone about myself and my present situation. Kara and I are of the opinion that it’s best just to ignore things, take any comments that are tossed in my general direction and just move on with my life. However, I do feel pressed to clarify one small thing. In a comment on Regan’s most recent blog, I was accused of saying I regretted my son. What I said when I first wrote about Kara and I getting a divorce, I commented on the fact that I thought the birth of a child so early in our marriage didn’t help things. Perhaps the verbiage I used was confusing, but in no way do I regret having the wondeful boys that we do. So you can still believe whatever you want, I’m personally stating what was meant.