Virgo & Pisces

Last weekend, I went to a benefit Happy Hour for Breast Friends.  It’s a local Portland group that helps women. 

Here’s the link: http://www.meetup.com/Portland-happy-hour-group/calendar/11245211/

Board Games

 Here’s my “screen shot” taken with a Fuji Finepix E900.  This picture shows my less then 10 year old nephew’s little Empire!  Settlers of  Catan can be played by all ages. 

Settlers of Catan first gained popularity in Europe then spread to North America and the world.  Thus a lot of similar game have been called Eurogames.  (Look it up on wikipedia for more information.)  These games can cost up to $50 USD.  They contain many pieces and designed to be visually stimulating.  They can be played by many people, 2-8.  There are groups that play on line or with the Xbox 360.  But playing it on a board is much more fun!   I joined a Meet Up Board game of Portland.  We met at the Lucky Lab on Thursday night to play games. Board games has made a resurgence. They are well designed with great graphics. Tannhauser is particularly impressive. I passed by one of the boards with miniture figures. It looks to be a WWI strategy game.

Another ‘Screen Shot’ of Agricola taken with Sony Ericson Camera Phone.  It is a Medival agricultural game.

Naked Binder Arrival

Just in time for back to school.  Ken sent me a few samples of their binders.

I love how simple the design is.  There not one drop of ink.  The board is branded like leather with an impression.  There’s not much glue either which means it’s less toxic.  One thing that happens with plastic cover binder is that they melt in the hot sun and release a plastic smell.  Also the plastic tend to get wrinkled. 

I like the architect version for long landscape orientation drawings.  When I was working at an architectural office we had 11 x 17 size drawings which we had to fold to fit the 8 x 11 three ring binders.  Not any more.  There is a line geared towards the architect or any one in need of this size and proportion.  The name comes from binders that are not wrapped in plastic or cloth or leather.  It is made of recycled material which I really like.  The covers look like the chip boards architects and designers use to make building models from.  It is also raw surface for kids to draw on and personalize.  I also like the design of wrapping to caress the three metal rings.  It can still received the labels and seems to be nicer on backpacks (without the sharp corners).

 

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