Scotto's Wall Scrawls

Weekend went past faster than I could track. I was feeling really poorly on Friday, so after the doc, I went home and crashed out.  Spring was really in the air, though, so the flowers were starting to bloom. I couldn't resist stopping to admire some of the first flowers of the season.

I go back to the doc in another week - hopefully I'll have the meds down so I'm not as sick as I am now, soon. I also discovered weatherspark - (I set up Interactive weather graphs for North Beach, MD, 20714, USA. http://t.co/3xVDzP9)

Saturday - Chores, did a little fallout 3, BHK ,the in-laws and I went out for a late meal.  We ate a little hummus and felafel at the pizza joint between our house and Annapolis - not bad, but they got our order wrong - I got tomatoes on my hummus, and Larry got cheese on his hamburger.

Sunday - we got up early to make an exodus to Savage Mill so BHK and our gang could hit the the yarn party (primarily BHK's thing, though I had a nice time too. She got loads of loot that she'll no doubt post to her ravelry page.

Also at the mill was The Family Game Store - Robin was a very helpful host - Games  obtained - Gore Years expansion for Chrononauts, Mr. Jack Pocket, and Qwirkle Cubes. (Not to mention a renewed love of Cheapass Games. ) They have a *lot* more items in stock than are listed on the website, and many are open and playable - I really like the place - it's family run, and they appear to know their stuff!

The  Curmudgeon Bookseller,  on the other hand could've used a lot more help with displays. It was a pretty standard collection of older books - I think that anything I'd have purchased there would have been a happy accident, rather than by an active search.

Whatchamacallit - Bleh... overpriced café-style shop at Savage Mill. The restaurant specializes in breakfast, light foods and baked goods. Bagels, hot and cold sandwiches, salads, toast, pies and cookies are all on offer here, but at $1.30 for a diet coke in the can, I was happy to head to Piece A Pizza

Ended on a happy note at Piece A Pizza. Mozzarella / Basil / Roma Tomato pie was good, and the white pizza was also excellent. Cookies are great, but 4 for$5

Polished off the day at Cosmic Comics & Toys (While BHK went to Cloverhill Yarn for a little more textile fun) , sadly, about 5 minutes before they were due to close.

I was a bit put off by the Christian rock on the speakers... and the relatively cool reception I received, given how nice the other guy was the last time I visited. I'm going to chalk it up to him being antsy to go home, but I didn't really feel very welcome this time. I'll be back, but we'll see If I return for a fourth time.  When met with a friendly smile, I dropped a nice pocket of cash - this time, I left quickly, without making a purchase.

We got home ok - though I think the sheer amount of time out and about wore me to a nubbin.

Today - Lots of running around and putting out fires. (or, a typical Monday.) Now that the dust has settled and I'm heading home, I thin I may hit the hay early, just to get my energy back up for tomorrow.

1 year ago - Cypress swamp pic

2 years ago - walkabout, food, Near Annapolis, final time with comcast, earth hour, thomas crown affair, newt smacks off larry's spex

3 years ago - alice's bar exam party, smothers brothers, eating policy, assorted piccies of my office, newt and pye getting along, doodled voice post, bus stop pic of spring,

4 years ago - nice folks at the county, cherry blossoms, spring started - pear trees, BHK into reality tv, EPC a flop, adam & tennis, easter coming up.

5 years ago - code template, interest cloud, pda cam dies, p&B in german, song tapper, bus on fire doodle

6 years ago - easter manatee, complimented, server/servant, spliced people, germs

7 years ago - Lj then and now (I spend less time now), bro, ice cream cake, Smokey & the Bandit

8 years ago - bro got me some Godzilla movies at the gift store up the road.

9 years ago - minority report poll, breakfast with Danny, grabber rabbit meme spreads, Words describing animal traits, Ketchup packet bear, Klaatu's speech, scary dream, link-to poll

10 years ago - babelizer, mushy-feelings, book-burning

11 years ago - Erica & April @ the theater, green mile & ghost dog, out with danny, Bohls, EMAGE

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

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Now playing: Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers

Originally published at The Scotto Grotto. You can comment here or there.

10-Die Poker

By James Ernest and Joshua Howard

Players: 4-7

Equipment: 10 six-sided dice for each player in two colors (These rules assume Red and White), and some Poker Chips. To play $1.00 ante, as described below, players should start with at least $40.

To Begin: Each player antes $1.00.

Rolling your Hand: Each player rolls his starting hand as follows: Your dice are always locked in pairs, one red and one white, so you can't just roll all your dice at once. Instead, you roll five pairs of dice, one pair at a time.

Arrange your dice so that there is a clear Red and White hand. It is helpful to put the better hand on top, so you can more easily compare hands with the other players.

The Value of Hands: The Hands in 10-Die Poker are the same as those in Poker, except that there is no Flush. The rank of Hands, from lowest to highest, is: High Die, Pair, 2 Pair, 3 of a Kind, Straight, Full House, 4 of a Kind, 5 of a Kind.

The value of your whole hand is always equal to the better of your two sets of dice. For example, if your Red hand is a pair, but your White hand is a straight, you have a straight. If two players have identical high hands, they compare low hands. If both hands match, which is very rare, those players are tied.

Challenges: The best hand is the "leader." The worst hand now becomes active, and may elect to either fold, or challenge the leader.

If you fold, you are out of this round, just like in Poker. If you challenge, it costs you an amount equal to half the pot, rounding up. So for example, if there is $5 in the pot, it costs $3 to challenge. This brings the Pot to $8, making the next challenge cost $4.

If you challenge, you may re-roll some or all of your pairs of dice. You must pick up all these pairs before you roll any of them; you can't decide piece by piece. And you must roll both dice in each pair, not just one or the other.

If your new hand beats the leader, you become the new leader. If not, you have lost and you drop out.

Winning: This process continues, with the low hand always challenging the high hand, until everyone either fails a challenge or folds. Then the survivor takes the Pot.

Tied Hands: If two players are tied for high, they split the pot. If two players are tied for low, they must choose randomly which one of them will challenge (or fold) first.

Ending the Game: Like Poker, this game is continuous and cyclical. Any player may enter or leave the game after any round. If you finish with more money than you started with, you're winning.

Strategy: A Straight probably isn't going to win the game, and it's a very tough hand to improve. When deciding whether to challenge, be aware of the dice in both hands. If you have a decent hand on both halves of the pairs you are keeping, your chances of beating the leader are pretty good. Otherwise, think twice. Also, be sure to note the chances of the leader coming back to beat you, even if you do win the challenge.

looked for work / did chorse most of the day.
BHK went to "Stitch & bitch"

earned 3 PlayStation®Network trophies in "inFamous".

Good Eats (Bronze) Good guys feed the needy.
 Good Riot (Bronze) Good guys stand up and take the heat.
 Stunt Man (Bronze) Complete any one stunt from the stunt list.

earned a PlayStation®Network trophy in "LittleBigPlanet™".

Paint Splurge (Bronze) Fire 5,000 paintballs
 
a/c dies
90 degrees in the house
got a haircut
still no glow-yarn

• Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures - we love all games lego - the only one that hasn't totally enchanted us yet is lego batman for the wii, but that may change, too.
• Little Big Planet: Game of the year version - my current fave. easy on the eyes, tricky levels, and an online community that's fantastic.
• Uncharted 2 - my first game, and I really like it a lot - haven't played it too much, but it's a hoot thus far
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - hard, but with infinite lives, I suspect I'll make it through eventually. good to have a western.
• The Darkness - pretty evil, but a solid game. I've been fortunate in my selection thus far.