Ryan B.: Okay, Now That The Gathering Thing is Over
Sorry this column is almost a day late. For that matter, it could very well be a dollar short. (smile) Well, it has been a very busy year for me in 2006. While I received a very gracious invite for The Gathering from Mr. Alan Moon, my schedule dictated that I would not be able to attend this year. So like the majority of folks out in boardgame cyberspace, I tuned in through our very own eyes and ears perspective of Rick Thornquist to see what I was missing.
But it wasn’t to say that I didn’t have some of my own adventure. In the beginning of the month, I was fortunate to be able to attend the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. I also managed to avoid, by just an eyelash, becoming a major news story on ESPN. Danica Patrick (of Indy 500 fame) was holding a sponsor press conference and like a few other curious onlookers, I gathered for an upclose peek. Danica held court about how she and Buddy Rice maybe didn’t have the car set-ups they were looking for yet in this race but that they did plan on being competitive. She is one focused individual. And everything they say about Danica being a very driven driver is also very true. At any rate, as soon as she completes her press conference, she makes a beeline straight at me to head back to her trailer. Only problem with that was that I had people on all sides of me and had no place to go. At 5’0 inches or whatever, Danica comes up to no higher than my chest… which was exactly where she was headed if I didn’t somehow push myself out of the way at the very last moment. Danica never broke stride. The girl has pluck, I’ll give her that. I was just happy that I didn’t become part of the box score of “Fan Trips Famous Driver Hours before Race.”
So does lightning strike twice?
Who knows, but shortly after planning a camping trip with friends I found out that you really don’t want lightning striking at all. After some 60+ days without rain, we figured a nice, fun camping trip in Disney World’s Camp Wilderness (which is anything but...) would be a great, relaxing and cheap way to spend a weekend. So what happens? We find ourselves in our own personal lightning ball being lit up like a sparkler in fireworks factory. When you have a blue and yellow tent and it turns ghost white.... you know that your thunderstorm is just a little too close for personal comfort. Our large group tent actually flooded, so we broke camp at 3:30am in the morning to discover the warm confines of a Cracker Barrel 3 1/2 hours later.
Next up is a friend’s bachelor party in South Beach, Miami where I am the best man. The adventures will continue, I’m sure.
So there has not been too much time for games… but then again, not much interesting for the casual boardgame player has really come out. A hidden gem of a game is Clue: The Great Museum Caper. If you can pick this game up on E-Bay… it really is a great way to introduce someone new to boardgames to something that is very social where they can have a lot of fun.
So all this brings us back to The Gathering.... and did anyone happen to catch Rick Thornquist’s girlfriend in his reports? Wow. She was definitely super attractive. So here’s hoping I never have to meet Rick and have to answer for that compliment face to face. (LOL) However, I should point out that she definitely has competition with the man himself as to who has the better hair. (grin)
Rimshot. Please.
Till next time. Peace.
Ryan B
© 2006 Ryan B.
Posted by Ryan B. on Apr 19, 2006 at 10:12 PM in Columnists, Ryan B. / 1221
