The Magic-al Mystery Trip

So it's been a while since I've played Magic: The Gathering but that doesn't mean I've forgotten the joys of the game.

My sweetheart and I were early devotees of this delightful and complex card game, we found it was a wonderful mixture of strategy and cool art with some good aspects of D&D. We bought all of the expansion sets, we have more boosters then you can shake a stick at. So why did we stop playing? I think it sort of got to the point where there were so many new sets coming out, we couldn't keep up. I swear it seemed like Wizards of the Coast was spewing them out every five minutes! I felt the pressure to make my decks bigger, stronger, faster. I tried all of these new combos to no avail. What I did find that was that my original decks, those made with the simplest of tactics, where always the most effective in play. I was getting away from the basic strategies by wanting to try all of the cool text on the new cards.

When our pal approached us about playing a game with a black theme I was thrilled. Why? Because there were concrete rules yet kept some things up to the controller's imagination. So now I'll compile a deck full of lovely old timey cards with maybe a few new ones thrown in. Time to haul out some rarities... A little All Hallow's Eve, anyone? :D

An End to Ticket Scalping?

Ok, a lot of us are avid concert goers, right? How many times have you logged on at 10am on the button on the first day tickets go on sale for an event and gotten seats in Row U? Well, there might be some good news....

Judge Bans Ticket Scalping Software

Lomography Renaissance?

Dolph Lundgren's killa told me about this yesterday. In a way it's kind of cool that they're supporting the analog renaissance, but if they were really serious about doing so they'd make their cameras more affordable so more of their fans would buy them. Charging $180 makes it look more like a money making scam than trying to encourage young, hip amateur photographers to revisit the old ways.... The Diana is kinda cool, though.

Maybe when they find out they aren't selling that many they'll have a peppermint-infused plastic camera garage sale! ;-)

Fast Food Nation, Healthy Eating Grrl

I did a book discussion today on Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal by Eric Schlosser. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's a famous expose on the fast food industry and all of the nasty things it's done to American diets and lifestyles. Schlosser covers everything from the downfall of the American farm to hideous practices in the meat packing industry to the poor judgement and consumerism that plagues our youth. It's a good read, I suggest you indulge if you can... if you have a strong stomach, that is.

After reading this book I thought, "Why would I eat this fast food crap at all? Am I really that lazy that I can't find (or make!) something better to eat than that?" I mean, basically everytime I go to Mickey D's I get sick and when I eat the fries I end up with a sore throat. I've always wondered about the latter, I discovered from reading the book that they put chemical beef fragrance on the fries to make them more appealing to the public. They make this frankenstein fragrance at the same place where they make Calvin Klein and Estee Lauder perfumes. I'm allergic to those, is it no wonder I can't eat the fries?

A few years back I went vegetarian for over a year. I'm not going to say it was easy because it wasn't --- every time we went out to eat I had to struggle to find things to order. It took a certain amount of effort but I have to say that my stomach thanked me and I felt pretty good. Somewhere along the line I got lazy and gave it up for the easy out of ordering, buying and eating meat. But just because I do that doesn't mean I have to eat garbage, there are organically raised meat products just as there are organic vegetables. After learning what the meat industry is feeding cows I think organic or free-range meat is the way to go if you must partake.

So for me I guess it all boils down to this: I know what I should be eating and I know how to get it. I know it's not always easy to find the right choices or to stick with it but I know I'm better off doing just that in the long run. So here's to finding a better alternative and to avoiding the fast food industry altogether.

How about you? Could you give up fast food because it's bad for you?

Been sick with a bad cold for going on two weeks now. What's up with that?! Staying home has given me time to read a bit, watch a ton and half of TV, play Oblivion, watch the Tribe and contemplate why I'm so freaking bored.

Gotta get out of this house! Seriously, I haven't spent nearly enough time in the Great Outdoors this year. Fall is here and I need to get out and photograph some autumn leaves before they wither away into brown clumps of nothing. So why is it taking me so long to get over this bug, anyway?

Dreaming of lovely fall moments and the weekend off that lies ahead....

Oh, and there's Pumpkin Ale to be had, too!

Think 'spooky' today....