The night before I left for vacation, I stubbed my pinky toe on a door frame. It was more painful than you'd imagine it would be, so I'm guessing I must have hit pretty hard.

While I was on vacation, I was wearing shoes most of the time, so my toe wasn't a big deal. At night I was always so tired that I would just fall asleep without thinking about it.

Then I got back home.

My toe feels mostly healed because it's not in pain or even all that tender.

But every once in a while I will bend my foot wrong and the entire side of my foot is aflame in pain. Not just my toe. It's agony, and I have a hard time getting my foot to "unlock" itself so I can move it again. No idea what that's about, but it's annoying as all get out. Jake likes to lie on my legs when I'm on the couch. Last night he was asleep on top of me when, out of nowhere, crippling pain. And it was all I could do to keep still so Jake wouldn't be thrown off.

I sure hope this nonsense ends sometime real soon. Otherwise I'm going to have to start wearing shoes in the house, and I am most definitely not a fan.

   
Last night I had to put a blanket on my bed. I'm so ready for Fall.

Every day I have to remind myself we're not living in a nightmare. Then I look at the news...

While I was in Disneyland for the Oogie Boogie Bash at California Adventure, I did what I always do when I'm at any Disney park, ship, or event... I eat! I love the food options at all the Disney properties (with Epcot being the top destination for me). I thought I'd run through my culinary adventures (mostly for myself so I know what to get the next time).

BEST OF THE BUNCH AWARD: Neutron Nachos in Avengers Campus at California Adventure.
I gotta tell you, this came completely out of left field for me. I usually avoid the quick service restaurants because so many times the food is "less than" compared to table service restaurants. But I wanted to try the Pym Tasting Lab alcoholic drinks. When it came to food, the "plant-based" offering was Neutron Nachos, which is described thusly:

Neutron Nachos — Blue and Red Corn Tortilla Chips, Impossible™ Taco Meat, Seasoned Black Beans, Cheese Sauce (vegan), Pico De Gallo, Sour Cream (vegan), and Pickled Jalapeños

This TikTok pretty much sums up the experience (here's a link in case TikTok is being a dick)...

They were incredible. So ridiculously tasty. So tasty that I bought all the ingredients and have made them three times since I've gotten back home! Highest possible recommendation.

   
CONSISTENTLY GREAT AWARD: Impossible Burger from Lamplight Lounge in Pixar Pier at California Adventure.
Hands-down my favorite restaurant at the resort, Lamplight Lounge pairs a fantastic drink menu with great food and service. I got the vegan burger my first time and have repeated it every time I visit the park:

Impossible™ Burger — Impossible™ Beef, American Cheese (vegan), House Spread (vegan), Grilled Onions, Lettuce and Tomato on a Potato Bun, served with Seasoned Fries

I always get it without the grilled onions and extra sauce and it's fantastic.

   
A GOOD EATS AWARD: Hearty Veggie Burger from Carnation Cafe in Main Street at Disneyland.
This is an easy staple that's different enough from the Impossible Burger at Lamplight Lounge that I can eat the two back to back without getting bored:

Hearty Veggie Burger — House-made Bean Patty, Vine-ripened Tomato, Chipotle Mayo (vegan), Slaw and Crispy Onions on an Artisan Bun, served with Fresh Fruit

They are happy to replace the slaw with lettuce, which is how I like to order it.

   
FUCK YOU, DISNEY AWARD: Three Cheese Monte Cristo from Carnation Cafe from Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
A Monte Cristo sandwich has Turkey, Ham, and Swiss that's battered and deep-fried... then dusted with powdered sugar and served with jam. It's a famous eat at Disneyland that a lot of people must have while visiting. When my friends took me there a while ago, I thought I'd end up with a plate of fries or something since I don't eat meat... but was shocked to find that they had a Three-Cheese Monte Cristo for non-meat-eaters like me! And it was fantastic! Featuring Swiss, Mozzarella, and Double Crème Brie, it was deep fried, dusted, and served with jam just like the regular version! Heaven! And it became a must-have for me when at Disneyland. EXCEPT THE FUCKERS AT DISNEYLAND REMOVED IT FROM THE DAMN MENU! I WAITED A HALF HOUR FOR A TABLE FOLLOWED BY FIFTEEN MINUTES FOR A WAITER ONLY TO BE TOLD THE SANDWICH WAS REMOVED! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!? INSTEAD OF HAM AND TURKEY, YOU JUST SLAP ON TWO CHEESES! JUST TWO ADDITIONAL ITEMS IN YOUR FUCKING REFRIGERATOR TO MAKE VEGETARIANS HAPPY... BUT NOOOOOOOOO! CAN'T DO THAT! LET'S GIVE THEM A FUCKING SALAD IF THEY WANT TO EAT AT OUR FAMOUS MONTE CRISTO RESTAURANT! What a damn shame. I just don't get it at all.

And there you have it. Three awesome meals and a big FUCK YOU! Or rather, fuck me, because I'm the one who left the happiest place on earth without my Three Cheese Monte Cristo... meaning I was not so happy.

And so... Jenny's journey into becoming one of the most entitled, demanding little kitten princesses to ever exist. She has long been insistent on getting her pet-time when I go to bed. But then she started letting me know that she's impatient when I finally go upstairs to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. She sits outside the bathroom and meows her displeasure if I keep her waiting. It's cute. I walk outside and say "Okay, let's go then" and she goes running to my bedroom and hops on the bed waiting for me to show up.

Heaven help me if I forget something downstairs and have to run back down to get it. When I get back to my bedroom, she's on the bed meowing and meowing.

But now?

Jenny's taken it up a notch.

After the food dispenser drops her 9:00pm pre-bedtime snack, she'll chomp it down, then come to get me wherever I am (usually on the couch watching TV).

And if I don't get up and follow her upstairs, she will sit on the stairs and meow her little head off.

Assumably because the acoustics are great...

She does it because it works.

If I'm watching TV, I just finish watching it upstairs in bed while petting her.

Which is exactly what she wants.

   
• Snek! I meant to post this on Caturday, but forgot. This is SO Jake with his stuffed lion toy, Mufasa. He took that thing everywhere for years. I would find Mufasa in his food dish, the water dish, and even the litter box...

Gotta make sure your best friend is getting enough to eat when they're looking a little thin.

   
• Oh Deer! I don't have a snek friend, I've got a deer friend now...

Such a pretty girl.

   
• U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! So proud...

In an age that science is attacked, education is ridiculed, and intelligence is mocked, this is where we are now. How sad.

   
• BUSINESS! Exaggerated. But still conceptually true...

Business is war, after all.

   
• Middlemen! It's insane. It's just insane...

The near-constant mantra from politicians continues to be that the USA has the best health care in the world. But every conceivable metric has shown that's not true. The truth is that it's the best if you can afford it! Studies show that Medicare for All would save ONE TRILLION DOLLARS A YEAR AND SAVE 114,000 LIVES ANNUALLY! But we continue to pay "health" insurance companies to provide worse care for more dollars. Disgusting.

   
• UnJournalistic! Getting facts completely wrong on your news story is one thing... but editing it so that the original wording is preserved so as to obscure the fact that you got it wrong? Shitty...

The edit should have eliminated the word "released" completely, as NOBODY TALKS THAT WAY. "Bail has been set at $1 million" is the only edit which takes responsibility for your misinformation. But because they went the dipshit route, now we've got a bunch of "READ IT AGAIN!" assholes in the comments chiding people who commented on the original headline. I am so sick of this shit I could vomit. If you don't have journalistic integrity, don't be a journalist.

   
And now back to preparing my home for Fall.

I am a massive board game nerd.

I love games in general... but board games are a tactile experience that allows me to step away from a computer screen or television screen and decompress in a way that I can't get from a video game. There's just something that comes out of opening up a box and taking out the pieces that really hit for me.

The problem being that board games are expensive, yo.

I shudder to think of how much money I've spent on my collection. It's undoubtedly way too much.

Before I get into everything, I think it's important to tell you what my favorite board game of all time is. And that game is Sorry!. Yes, you read that right, Sorry!...

Based on the board game Ludo which is based on the game Parcheesi (which is called Pachisi in the original Indian), Sorry! is a race home for your four pieces. But there are cards which do more than simply move you along a track. 4's move you backwards. 7's can be split between two pieces. 11's allow you two trade places with another player's piece. And the titular Sorry card sends another player back to the start while you get to take their place with one go your start pieces.

The game is frickin' brilliant. And deceptively simple. It's luck-driven based on the cards you turn, but there's a definite strategy element which makes it more than just a mundane Chutes and Ladders experience. Knowing how to play a card can be very much more important than what cards you get. And it's crazy fun because the game can turn on a dime. You can be way ahead one minute, then bumped to last place the next.

The design of the game has changed several times since I first started playing it as a kid. I own three versions of it, with my favorite being the 1972 version (pictured above) that I still have (the first version I ever played).

The current version looks like something exploded...

I rather like the bold, vibrant design... except for the color slides, which look awful and would be so much better if they were the colored solid so the "You can't slide on your own color" rule is easier to observe (instead you have to look at the three colors available then determine if you can slide, which is madness). But oh well. Times are always changing.

What doesn't change is that I still love Sorry! in all its incarnations.

Tune in tomorrow for more board game nonsense.

Alrighty then. Yesterday I fully admitted that my favorite board game of all time is Sorry! no matter what new hotness comes along. Now I'm going to be diving into the kind of games that are not 100 years-old (well, 97 years-old, but you get the idea).

My favorite games work great for two-player. Games with a low player count move quickly, allow chit-chat that doesn't interrupt the game, and seem more casual the less players are involved (even when it's not a co-op game, because even the most cutthroat games can be casual and fun with just you and somebody you know well).

That being said, games that are either designed for solo play or have very good solo play are mostly what I'm looking for. Mostly because it's tough to find other people wanting to play when I'm wanting to decompress after work. If you're lucky you can find somebody available on the weekend, but it's never guaranteed, so buying for solo play is always a good move if you want to game on your own schedule.

Most solo games are a "beat your own score" version of multi-player where you face off against an automa. And that's fine. I treat them like puzzles where I'm trying to figure something out. Other solo games come out of co-op modes where you can play on your own or play multi-handed.

Whichever way it shakes out, a good game is a good game. And here are some of my favorites...

• Marvel Champions. This is a surprisingly smart game which requires some genuine thought to work through the narrative and be successful. I exclusively play this two-handed, choosing two of the hero decks I have and finding cool ways to play them.
• Clank! Catacombs. This is one of those board games which has embraced a digital assistant for solo play, and it's darn good. Yes, I prefer playing with others, and there are some who hate the solo experience, but I love the dungeon-crawling aspect which is always different thanks to each dungeon being created on-the-fly from various tiles.
• Cascadia & Cascadia Rolling Rivers. This is a lazy tile-laying game that plays exceptionally well solo. It's just so easy to pull it off the shelf when you want to relax and be distracted from the world.
• Star Wars: Outer Rim. I own many, many Star Wars IP games (I even own Star Wars Monopoly!). As a solo experience, it's good but not great. But then you add the Unfinished Business expansion, and it's a solo experience I love the truly feels like Star Wars. That goes a long way to making me love it, but I think the very good AI player works so well that it contributes a heck of a lot. If there's a problem, it's that there's just not enough content to stay interesting day-in and day-out. Which is why I'll play it straight for a few days, then put it away for a couple months. Such a shame, because with more expansions this would be a killer game.
• Final Girl. Truly one of the most unique games in my collection, the core game for this dedicated solo actually isn't playable on its own. You have to purchase "feature films" which have a new location, a new villain, and two new "final girls" to play. Most all of the expansions are based on actual horror films (everything from Nightmare on Elm Street to Alien). But here's where things get interesting... you can mix-and-play locations, villains, and final girls. Which means even if you have just a handful of "films" you've got a lot of options to keep the game feeling fresh.
• Dice Throne. This is the game that got me back into board games after a long sabbatical. It's like "Battle Yahtzee"... but more than that. There's a bunch of heroes to choose from (with Marvel IP thrown in the mix), and finding a way to battle them is where the fun is at. To play solo, you have to use one of the co-op expansions which makes for an interesting solo-play experience. One I enjoy (and play often), but this is a game that pretty much demands two players to live up to what makes it so great.
• Spirit Island. Easily one of the best solo games ever made, it scales up well to handle more players easily. It's a true solo game, meaning you only have to play one-handed and still get a full experience. The downside is that it can be pretty tough to beat. The game is complex and fidgety and has a steep learning curve... but, in the end, it's worth it for the type of games I like.
• Star Trek: Captain's Chair.
• 20 Strong. This is a card-based decision-making game which requires a good strategy to manage the risk vs. reward options presented to you.
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Season 2. This is a game that has a good true-solo mode, but I always play two-handed because it feels hollow if you don't. Replayability is limited in that you're playing the same scenario over and over (until you buy the next one), but you can make it feel different by playing different characters. The pre-built decks you can buy are surprisingly good, and an easy way to jump in a game that gets fiddly.
• Lost Ruins of Arnak. This is pretty much Indiana Jones as a board game. Which would be enough for me if that's all it was because the theming is done so very well. But there's a wonderful puzzle element which makes it a great game besides the point. What I will say is that the Expedition Leaders expansion is essential for solo play. And, if you like campaign games, then you'll want to pick up The Missing Expedition as well.
• Ark Nova. This is a game I love to play true-solo... but not all the time. It's one of those games you just have to be in the mood for. What's helped me enjoy it more often is an unofficial solo app called ARNO, which simulates additional players. Oh how I wish that there were more bots like this to make games more fun to play solo.
• Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition. This is the "shorter and streamlined" of the celebrated original Terraforming Mars. It's fun, it's "crunchy" (deeply strategic), and it's got low overhead for solo.
• Heat: Pedal to the Metal. This game is most fun with a group, but I've had a blast playing it solo as well... the more racers the better.
• Obsession. There's no disguising it... this is Downton Abbey turned into a board game. You play as a family trying to improve your estate with events, renovations, and staffing to attract wealthy guests who allow you to make even more improvements to escalate your standing in society.
• Parks. This is likely my choice for best-looking game. It's simple graphical elements are just so fresh and clean. And it plays fantastic. And also plays fantastic solo thanks to the automa player you get to compete against.
• Endeavor: Deep Sea. This is a fun submarine game that builds the game-board with tiles, and has changing objectives to keep it fresh each time you play. There is a pretty big fault in the game that I'm not sure is able to be overcome... and it's that you can make poor decisions early on which you then have to live with for the rest of the game. This can really suck, because you're just going through the motions knowing you're likely going to lose. I really hope that they can figure a way to back out of these bad decisions, because it would make a good game great.
• Distilled. This is a game about making alcohol that's surprisingly fun to play. There's a lot going on and it has a solo mode which is pretty smart in its implementation. I like trying different strategies each time I play, because there isn't ever only one way to go about your game. The recently added Cocktails expansion fills an interesting "gap" in game-play, but I have yet to decide if it's in a good way.
• Forrest Shuffle. This is a relaxing game that got a darn good solo-play automa in the Exploration expansion. The problem is that it's a bit too easy when played solo despite some confusing scoring mechanics. Maybe one day they will figure out a way to come up with a solo automa which plays as well as a two-player game... even via an app somehow... because that would make me much more willing to play more often.
• Roll Player. How somebody came up with the idea to turn D&D character creation into a game, I don't know. But I am certainly glad they did. This is right up my alley because I love chucking dice and I love dice manipulation games. But it gets better... there was criticism that this was a game without an endgame, which was addressed with the expansions. The Monsters & Minions allowed you to actually use the character you create, which closed the loop and made the game near-perfect.
• Cartographers. A flip-and write game that works beautifully for solo play and uses a theme I love: drawing maps. It's so easy to pull this out for a quick play that it's always within reach when I need distraction from life.
• Critter Kitchen. This would be a game I play a lot more often if it didn't have such a fidgety set-up. But once you do get the board set? A fun game with cute art that has a great solo automa with some variety to it. I almost hate to add even more set-up to the game, but adding the A La Cart expansion makes a good game even better... for multi-player. Inexplicably, the automa doesn't take the expansion into account like it should, which is a real shame for solo players.
• Marvel United. This is a simple co-op game which plays beautifully two or three-handed solo. Because it is so simple, I actually like it a lot because I can just relax and enjoy myself rather than have to wrack my brains to play. What makes this game such a winner to me is the sheer variety of content that's available to play (and I own just about all of it). Later expansions add things like "equipment" to make things a little more exciting, but the most excitement can be found just picking the heroes you want to play and finding a villain scenario that seems like fun. Bonus? Somebody has created a brilliant "Megaverse" tool which leads you through playing everybody against everybody, and it's a sight to behold. I'm loving it, even though I'll likely never get all the way through! A DC Comics version has been Kickstarted but, given that the game developer is in serious trouble, whether it makes it to backers remains to be seen.

Marvel United is also great because the game pieces are so fantastic (all 350+ of them!)...

"There's only one Blade, and there's only ever gonna BE one Blade!"

I could go on and on, but that's probably more than enough to give you an idea of what I like to play (if you want to see more, just visit my collection on Board Game Geek).

The downside of board games is that you have to set them up to play then tear them down when you're done. For some games, this is a monumental undertaking because there's loads of parts and pieces needed to play. It's even worse if you have a game which takes several play sessions before you can complete it... and you have cats. Leaving a game out on my dining room table and expecting everything to still be in the same place come morning is insane in my house. Jake and Jenny would destroy it. Not out of malice... but out of fun.

Because it's a game after all.

It's because of cats that I've long wanted a gaming table. Which is to say a dining room table where you can remove the top and have a play area underneath. That way you can uncover and play whenever you like and not risk any cat-related tragedies.

The problem is that gaming tables like this have historically cost $1,500 or more for a decent one. The one I had my eye on was $2,400. Which might as well be $10,000, and I can't possible spend that kind of money for games.

Then I saw a game table on Amazon which looked to be very good quality... at a fraction of the price. So I took a chance and ordered it.

And it was indeed shockingly high quality. Not for the price, but shockingly high quality period.

But it arrived damaged.

Surprisingly, the company I purchased it from shipped me a replacement top! And here it is...

In the photo I am playing a small game, so I only uncovered half the table. For larger games or many players, you can uncover all of it. The thing even came with a bunch of cup holders which attach to the side for drinks or snacks!

I am very, very pleased with it. And it makes a great impression when friends show up to play.

Which is why I ordered the smaller coffee table version for my living room, so I can set up solo games for myself while watching television...

Meaning I have two gaming tables in my home now! Can you believe it?

Take it from me, people... dreams really can come true.

Board games are insanely expensive in several ways.

They used to be a cheap for of entertainment, costing $15 to $20... or maybe up to $35 if they are large or fancy. But now? They're so large and complicated that $45 to $55 is considered normal, and many games go for $100 or more. Because of this, I have tried to not buy so many new games.

Tried and failed.

Because unless it's some kind of legacy game (like Monopoly), games do not stay in print. Most games don't. They come, maybe get a second or third printing if they're extremely popular, then go. So if you miss picking up a game when it's released, you may never get a chance again without paying astronomical prices on the third-party market.

Take for example, Marvel Champions. This is a game that I bought years after it was first released in 2019. Then I forgot about it... only finally playing it a couple years ago. At which point I discovered I loved it. Problem is, the publisher hasn't reprinted the loads of "hero packs" and expansions that got released, and the only way to find them is off eBay where people are charging insane prices. The Doctor Strange hero pack goes for $200... assuming you can find one for sale. I wanted to pick up Gambit, but he was $340. Other rare heroes aren't available anywhere for any price. It's insanity.

And for that reason if I find a game that looks even remotely interesting, I will either back it's Kickstarter or GameFound campaign... or purchase it in a store... rather than waiting and having to pay double or triple if it sells out and doesn't get a reprint.

My obsession with getting every piece of the Marvel United games, expansions, and upgrades has cost me a pretty penny indeed. Had I only known how much I'd love collecting and playing it, I would have been able to buy it all for 25%-35% the cost I ended up paying.

And so I end up spending more money than I should to save money. Potentially.

At least that's what I tell myself.

   
And because board games are so crazy expensive and there's so bloody many of them, I watch a lot of YouTubers and other social media. And because I'm mostly interested in how a game plays solo, I am usually watching solo play channels and reading solo play sites. Here's some of my favorites...

   
Green
Esmerelda makes videos about things that make her happy. Which, from what I can see, are board games she can play solo. She seems a lovely person who has a pleasant presentation which I love. Because she's in the Netherlands, some of the games she plays are unavailable here (or no longer available), which is a bummer... but I've snagged a few of them I've seen on eBay. Others I've bought at various game stores local and online. Like this Carcassonne variant that looks fantastic...

   
Stidjen Plays Solo
Probably the one board game reviewer whom has the most compatibility with me when it comes to games I like. He's gotten me to buy a lot of games!

   
Tabletop Turtle
I really, really like Mike and Kim's take on games... even though I don't always agree with them. Mike has a pretty good take on solo games, but it feels as though he doesn't play solo very often...

   
Stephen & Zeshawn
Stephen Callaghan owns House Rules Games in Dallas and does social media for his shop. Zeshawn Khan has a social media channel called Board & Shield because he loves games. And both of those channels are worth watching. But my favorites are when they crossover...

   
Rolling Solo
This YouTube channel has a good user community built around board game solo play.

   
Specifically Solo
Another YouTube channel which has loads of content built around solo play.

   
Room and Board
Chris George is a highly entertaining YouTuber who has a unique take on board gaming, with a lot of interesting content around the hobby (not just reviews). And his play-throughs with Zach are legendary...

   
Totally Tabled
Mostly solo play content, but also has a lot of list videos if you're looking for new games to try or buy!

   
True Solo Studios
A fairly new channel with solo board game play content by Josh.

   
slickerdrips
Tom has a pleasant play manner that makes his videos a nice watch. Mostly solo board game play.

   
Sir Thecos
A lot of solo game content that's exceptionally well-presented.

One more day left...

And here we are at the end of Board Game Week at Blogography.

I've talked about my favorite games, investing in gaming tables, and what social media I watch in order to keep up to date on board games (in general) and solo play (specifically). So now I guess the only thing that's left is to talk about where I store all these games I've been collecting for the past decades of my life.

The answer until recently was "In a bunch of boxes in my garage."

But then I started buying them again, and decided I needed a better place to keep them. And so I found an alcove in my guest bedroom that's a hop, skip, and a jump from my dining room gaming table, and decided to build some shelves to go in there. Which actually turned out quite nice...

I've wanted to do this for a while, but wood is so frickin' expensive that I couldn't afford it. But then I found some old IKEA shelves stacked up in the back of my garage that I forgot I had. I was able to cut shelves out of them. Mostly. Some of the scraps I had to fasten together with glue and biscuits so they would be wide enough...

The problem is... that's not even close to the number of games I have on those shelves.

There's two more big boxes in my garage.

I'd put them in the top of my closet, but that's where my Dice Throne stuff is at...

I'd put them in the hutch in my living room, but that's where my Marvel United stuff is at...

Not to mention the drawers in my hutch which have been stuffed with old long-box board games, card games, dice games, and loads of gaming supplies like card holders and dice trays.

And so I'll probably just end up putting built-ins in half of the guest room closet. Because, seriously, just how much closet space do guests need? They're not going to be staying very long, so they won't be bringing tons of clothes with them any way! And, if they do, they can just stack them up in the corner or something. Not my problem at all if they over-pack!

Yeah. YEAH. YEEEAAAHHH!

Anyway... that's Board Game Week for you. Now it's time for me to stop blogging so I can play a round of Clank! Catacombs that I've been wanting to do all day.

I don't trim my cats' claws.

They have always been very good about not clawing furniture. I have a variety of different scratching posts around, and they are happy to restrict their scratching there. That takes care of their claws naturally, without my having to traumatize them by clipping, so I've just let them be.

As I was laying on the couch with my laptop working, Jake was sleeping beside me. All of a sudden I feel my leg getting poked. I move my computer out of the way, and this is what I'm seeing...

I mean, come on! Just look at this lethal murder mitten!

I said "Ow! Can you not claw my leg, Boo-Bear?" To which he responded by snarling at me...

As I lay there wondering what his reaction would be if I try to un-hook his claws, he got up and went to the end of the couch to give himself a manicure...

Would have been nice if he had done that before deciding to give me a flesh wound.

   
• Before We Begin! You can watch the event here, if you haven't already...

   
• Bye Tim! I have mixed feelings on Tim Cook. On one hand, he stepped into impossible shoes to fill and took Apple to being the most profitable company on earth. On the other hand, I feel that a lot of his decisions were not for Apple customers, but for Apple wealth, and it lead to a lot of decisions I vehemently disagreed with. Still, it was kinda a bittersweet good bye with his brief appearance in the keynote. It will be interesting to see how John Ternus approaches being the new CEO. He was VP of hardware for five years, so maybe this will lead to bigger leaps in product technology that Tim wasn't taking so he could drive up profits with smaller incremental changes. I guess we'll see.

   
• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max! I've said repeatedly that the only thing I care about on a smartphone is the camera. Everything else is secondary, and if it weren't for the camera improvements, I'd probably have kept my iPhone 12 all this time. It's for this reason that I didn't upgrade from the 16 Pro Max to the 17 Pro Max. There just wasn't anything new enough with the cameras to force me into upgrading. But now? A real

When I think of things that would get me to upgrade, this would be near the top of the list... and so... I'm saving my pennies! — When it comes to all the other stuff, I don't care. Faster and more capable? Whatever. It's all overkill for me. I do care about Apple once again giving us a shitty color selection for the Pro line. The black is okay, but the white is drab, the blue is so muted as to not matter, and the burgundy looks like a blood clot. For the love of God, Apple, can we PLEASE get just ONE FUCKING COLOR that doesn't look like a funeral accessory? Bright blue, red, yellow, green... pick one!. But nope. Always the same "classy" colorways that look boring as fuck.

   
• AirPods 5! I will never buy the regular AirPods line. They are slick plastic that fall out of your ears, and losing one down a sewer grate is money out the window. No, I am only interested in the "Pro" line which has the earbuds which keep them in your ears.

   
• iOS 27! I've been a beta tester for iOS 27 since it was available. There's some niceties to be found... Siri isn't a dumb as a box of rocks most of the time thanks to "Apple Intelligence," but all the AI crap is lost on me, and when I run across it by accident (like in the Photos editor when I swipe wrong) it pisses me off. I was intrigued with the promises of faster syncing on things (especially photos) but I haven't really noticed it yet, even though all my devices are on the beta offerings.

   
• Apple Watch Series 12! I have clung to my Series 9 Apple Watch because it's the last Product(RED) watch Apple has released. No idea why. So the fact that the watch is a tiny bit thinner and faster doesn't mean much to me when mine does all I want it to do and is a beautiful, bright, red color. The new aluminum options are "Dark Bronze" (pretty, not my style), Light Gold (boring), Space Gray (more boring), and Black (which is the only one I could see myself wearing). So... until my red watch dies, I will not be upgrading until Apple decides to make some brighter colors that fit my tastes better. Like Product(RED). Even the bands are boring.

   
• iPhone Duo! And here it is... the famous Steve Jobsian "One More Thing" that everybody and their dog already knew about... the iPhone Duo! It's an iPhone that folds out to an iPad! I absolutely love the idea of it all. This is the perfect phone for me. Except for the fact that the cameras can't even remotely compete with the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Not even in the same ballpark. And since the camera is all I care about... well... this model is a non-starter for me. But one day they'll get it all figured out and get the cameras where they need to be so I'll end up dropping TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS on a frickin' phone. I dunno...

Apple is not the first company to release a folding phone. They do what they always do and wait to perfect it so they aren't rushing a sub-par option to market and experimenting with their customers to get something working as it should (the first foldable phones had some crazy flaws that was proof positive that first adopters were beta-testers). And I have to say the iPhone Duo looks very polished and well-thought-out. The way it operates and the way the interface adapts is truly smart work. But starting at $2,000 makes it not a smart option for me. Maybe one day.

   
• Absentee Products! The long-rumored "Smart Home" device was a no-show. As was a new HomePod and HomePod mini. Also an updated AppleTV or iPads. And no new Macs, though that's mostly a WWDC thing. But the missing item which really caught me by surprise was that no "regular" iPhone 18 was to be seen. Which is to say there's nothing new for those customers who don't want to spend the money for a "Pro" model but might be wanting to upgrade their phone. Could be a memory constraint issue since RAM prices are still sky-high, but who knows?

   
And now back to our regular non-Apple content.

The first fashion designer I ever knew by name is Bob Mackie.

He got a shout out on The Carol Burnett Show, which I was obsessed with as a kid when it was on television reruns. I learned that he was responsible for the outfit designs on the show, and eventually I found out he was responsible for a lot of designs on a lot of shows of the day... including those amazing outfits worn by Cher and Marilyn Monroe! And he never slowed down. He was still designing incredible fashions for stars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Zendaya, and many more.

Lest we forget his work for Elton John!

But there's always that one dress I'll forever remember him by, and it's probably not the one you think...

It's comedy genius on a level that few will ever achieve. And its story is best told by the man himself...

Rest in Peace, sir. You made the world a more beautiful place.

The current hostile atmosphere in the "Land of the Free" towards my Muslim friends has me worrying about their safety. All they want is what all of us want... to live their lives in peace. But because they worship God differently than other people, they get villainized for anything and everything. And they're having to endure the consequences of Islamophobic rhetoric coming from the highest level of government.

How can you possibly compete with that?

How about fact-based comedy?

Politicians and their advocates use buzzwords like "SHARIA LAW" to control people... despite the fact that the vast majority of people know nothing about it... except what gets thrown at them by people who pick-and-choose the pieces. Which is hardly surprising, because these same people pick-and-choose what they're going to believe from the Bible.

It's only fitting that the fear mongering gets lobbed back to those who are propagating it, which is why this video is so perfect.

Because in a time where most every headline makes you want to tear your hair out and cry until you have no tears left, comedy is the best medicine.

I'm going to say the same thing I said about the Democratic Party when they wanted Biden to run for a second term... the Republican Party wheeling out a confused Mitch McConnell because they needed his vote is elder abuse.

Hell, Mitch was so confused that he was going to vote with the Democrats before his Republican colleagues stepped in to stop him. It's all so disgusting how people are so eager to take advantage of older people whose minds are not capable enough to understand what's going on.

Public officials and politicians make decisions which affect our lives. If they are demonstrating signs of confusion or dementia... whether due to age or not... they need to undergo a mental evaluation which is then made PUBLIC if they are deemed mentally capable. If they are not deemed mentally capable, they should be relieved of their duties. I'm sick and tired of these behind-the-scenes evaluations which are kept secret. If they are so mentally capable as to hold office, why is the evaluation not made public? If they aced the evaluation, what possible reason could there be not to release a video of what took place?

There isn't one. Full stop.

Clearly... clearly... I was born into the wrong class.

I was looking through what was suggested for me on YouTube and a 12-year-old video popped up which I feel to my very soul is the lifestyle I should be accustomed to. Not because of the luxury, but because it isolates you from other people.

First Class is for peasants...

Can you imagine?

The closest thing to flying private that you can get.

Which I also feel is a suitable accommodation for me. I was just trying to lower my carbon footprint.

I woke up this morning to piles of the most stupid levels of willful ignorance I have ever encountered.

It's a call to boycott a beloved family-co-op-owned Pacific Northwest brand: Tillamook. A company which is most famous for their cheese, but they make all kinds of dairy products... all of them amazing. Sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese, butter, ice cream, and the like.

And why a boycott?

Was their owner found to be in the Epstein Files 38,000 times? Or tried to incite an insurrection? Or has been found guilty of sexual assault? Or has been credibly accused of sexual assault by numerous women? Has bragged about grabbing and kissing women without consent? Has bragged about going into dressing rooms where women are in various states of undress or are naked? Or has been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records? Has openly been abusing their position to steal wealth and power from the American people? Has been caught in so many lies that you would be forgiven for thinking that they are incapable of telling the truth?

No? None of that?

Then what? What could it possibly be?

Telling people which of their products are safe for people observing halal? Are you fucking kidding me?

The absurdity here cannot be understated.

Food manufacturers put all kinds of marks on their food products! Non-GMO marks, Gluten-Free marks, Vegan marks, Organic marks, No Corn Syrup marks, No Seed Oils marks, Kosher marks (for observant Jews), and Halal marks (for observant Muslims). And that's just the beginning! There's all kinds of marks for all kinds of people to help them with all kinds of dietary needs and dietary preferences.

And it's not just Jews who use Kosher marks and Muslims who use Halal marks. Many people use them. PEOPLE LIKE ME! Kosher Pareve marks tell vegetarians and vegans that the food contains no dairy, meat, or poultry. Halal marks tell people that the facility producing the food adheres to strict cleanliness standards. If you don't care about that kind of thing, THEN JUST IGNORE THE FUCKING MARKS, LIKE I IGNORE NON-GMO MARKS!

For non-Muslims, Halal marks on Tillamook cheese merely says that the facility is clean and free of disease, and if the cheese contains rennet that the animal from which it came was killed by a Muslim in a humane, clean way with all effort made to keep the animal calm and free of distress. And, oh yeah, the Muslim doing the slaughter must kill the animal while saying "Bismillah, Allahu Akbar"... which means "In the name of Allah, Allah is the Greatest." Which is the same idea as Christians offering prayer and thanks to Almighty God before eating a meal. It's a "God is good, God is great, let us thank him for our food" kinda thing.

That's it.

Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Adonai, Elohim... just different names from different faiths and cultures for the same God of Abraham. And for the offended Christians out there: in Islam, Jesus is a major prophet, the Messiah, and considered a messenger of God. So your Savior is revered and respected in the Islamic faith as well.

So let's sum up the ritualistic slaughter of animals for it to be Halal, shall we? The kill is made in the name of God in a humane way, since God is merciful and is the only one who should take a life, then they say "God is the greatest."

Yeah, totally boycott that.

If you're an ignorant Islamophobe.

As for me?

I don't eat a ton of dairy any more, but when I do I support a local, farming-family-co-op-owned business with the highest possible quality standards who wants to help people find products suitable for their diet.

Whatever that diet may be.

The cats are unhappy about the changing weather. No more lazy nights out in the catio because it's starting to get chilly out there at night.

So they spend more time indoors wanting to have my attention. Sometimes.

The nice thing about my cats taking naps next to each other while I'm trying to work in bed is that I don't have to be holding their feet or petting them the whole time. They are able to be happy laying next to each other without me...

Probably time to think about pulling out the warming pads and heated blankets!

   
• noPhone! Well, shoot. Guess I'm saving my money and not buying a new iPhone 18 Pro Max after all. Turns out the only thing I give a crap about, the new variable aperture, is a non-starter because the photo sensor on the iPhone is so small that the aperture doesn't really have much of an effect when it comes to depth of field...

And so... maybe next year. Because right now the camera on the 18 Pro is not enough for me to switch just as the 17 Pro wasn't before it.

   
• Eyesight! On Friday I had to run to the Big City for work. While I was there, I dropped by Costco. Where I spent way too much money. I bought new silverware because my old stainless steel stuff (which I love) is starting to get messed up... I bought new reading glasses, because it's time I bumped up from -1.5 to -2.0, alas... and I also bought a 2-pound tub of Rojo's Street Corn Dip, which I will end up eating in less than a week...

Because it's just that insanely delicious.

   
• The Great Beyond! After Costco, I ran by Fred Meyer to pick up five packages of Beyond Stack Burgers. But before I picked up my online order, I went inside and picked up an additional five packages because they were on sale for a crazy good price. Thank heavens I bought that small freezer for my garage!

So now I have 80 burgers ready to go. Since I eat them morning, noon, and night, I figure they might last me until mid-November sometime. Hopefully they will go on sale by then, because they're way expensive when they're not on sale. Of course, I'd rather pay full price than have them discontinued by Fred Meyer, since they are the only store in the entire valley which has them.

   
• Reach for the Sky! The latest season of Reacher was incredible. I was very sad it was over and I'm having to wait months or years for new episodes. However... we did get a new series to help lessen the blow, a Neagley spin-off!

The show is amazing, as expected. And, talk about lessening the blow, Amazon Prime may have given us Neagley... but they canceled Ride or Die, which pisses me the fuck off. The show was highly regarded, highly rated, and had great promise for a second season. How the hell do they decide where to spend their money?

   
• Rarity! Now this is fucking cool as all getout...

Isn't stuff like this incredible? Doesn't it just blow your mind that a substance like this can exist?

   
• Interplanet Janet! Alrighty... we're going from cool shit dug out from the earth to cool shit we're doing in space! This is an incredible video. And the visualizations they're using are some of the best I've seen. Well worth your valuable time to watch...

We are capable of some truly great things as we reach for the stars. Sadly, we would apparently rather spend our time fighting in the dirt. What a waste.

   
• The Incredible Shrinking Food! Thanks to idiotic fucking tariffs plus out-of-control fuel costs thanks to an idiotic fucking war, the price of food is insanely expensive now. And once again food companies are trying to camouflage it with shrinkflation. My hummus was advertised as having a lower price... BUT THE CONTAINER WAS NOTICEABLE SMALLER...

And don't even ask me what the fuck this is. According to the company who makes these chips, this is a full bag. Seriously, I haven't touched a single chip yet!

It's all so fucking insane. We're paying record prices for "LOWER GROCERIES ON DAY ONE" yet getting fuck-all for it.

   
And now back to being even more bitchy than what I can blog about.

When I was in high school, there was a pizza joint in town which had some of the best pizza I've ever had. The secret was in the sauce. It wasn't just bland tomato sauce. It wasn't loaded with Italian spices in a failed attempt to make it interesting. It had a unique flavor which straddled the line perfectly and also had this kinda wine note which wasn't interfering, it was just there in the background keeping things delicious.

My favorite pizza they made was their famous Taco Pizza. Basically a cheese pizza with taco ingredients on top... ground beef, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and hot sauce. Delicious. After I graduated, I still ate there quite a bit, including after I became a vegetarian. I just ordered the Taco Pizza without the beef, and it was still amazing.

I have never found a frozen pizza that's any good. And believe me, I've tried ever one I can get my hands on.

I have never found a pizza place which had that amazing sauce.

But I still crave that Taco Pizza, so I've come up with the best approximation I can. And I'm sharing the recipe today! Here is what you'll need...

• Tony's Cheese Pizza. No, this is not even close to what the original was. No, it's not even the best frozen pizza out there. But it does seem to marry with the pizza toppings in the best way I've found. And the crust is good for what we're building.
• Vegetarian Ground or Ground Beef. This is entirely optional. Most of the time I skip it. If you use it, season with Taco Seasoning.
• Shredded Lettuce.
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese.
• Diced (or sliced) Tomatoes.
• Crushed Taco Chips. Not found on the original. I added these because the salty crunch tastes phenomenal.
• Cholula Hot Sauce. My favorite Mexican hot sauce, but feel free to use your own favorite.
• Sour Cream. Optional.

Because the lettuce and tomatoes will turn sludgy if stored in a refrigerator, this is not something you want to have leftovers with. This recipe serves 2-3 people so, if you're dining alone, use a bread knife to saw the frozen pizza in half (you can put the cut on the edge of a breadboard and snap it in half, once you've sawed half-way through). Then wrap the other half and stick it back in the freezer.

Cook the pizza according to directions, adding heated seasoned vegetarian grounds or fully-cooked seasoned ground beef on top half-way through.

Once cooked cut into slices then top generously with shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes (diced or sliced), and crushed taco chips. Top with dashes of hot sauce, then put a small dollop of sour scream on each slice if you wish.

Grab a fork and enjoy.

You're welcome!

It's gotten to the point where I must disconnect from the world for at least one waking hour each day. It's just too much. The level of cruelty, ignorance, violence, and stupid that's inundating all aspects of our lives day after day after day is simply not mentally sustainable.

And so... I'm trying to read or play a board game each night before bed.

It's not the perfect solution. The perfect solution would be a giant meteor destroying the planet. But it does make the assault of daily living a tiny bit smaller.

And I feel incredibly grateful I am lucky enough to be able to dip out for a bit each day. All too many people are not so lucky.

I read a story from 2019 today that kinda hit different.

It was out of Smithsonian magazine, and is titled A Young Arctic Fox Traveled From Norway to Canada in 76 Days.

It's remarkable. She's so small...

Elise Stromseng/Norwegian Polar Institute

I mean, just look at this journey...

Arnaud Tarroux/NINA

I wish I knew why this story makes me so sad for her. It's like she kept going because she didn't know what else to do?

Then I got it.

It's the same for most of us. You just keep going because you don't know what else to do.

The difference being that I can turn on a movie and forget about survival for a bit.

I was doom-scrolling YouTube videos last night, trying to escape from this sick, sad world.

After a while I got on a run of wholesome animal content, and the one that got stuck in my head is an owl whose eggs didn't hatch, so they put a couple of orphaned owls in her nest hoping that she would adopt them. Her reaction was genuinely heartwarming.

This video is a story from Robert Fuller's life studies for his artwork. And it's wonderful. Well worth your time to watch...

If you are left wanting more (and why wouldn't you be?) then I urge you to visit Robert's website right here.

My favorite hot dog is a Chicago-style hot dog made vegetarian. It's a plant-based dog on a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, diced onions, neon relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices, pickled sport peppers, and topped with celery salt. A phenomenal culinary experience.

But I also like the local version here in Washington State, which is a Seattle-style hot dog...

When is Seattle, I seek out a plant-based dog in a plain bun that's been smeared with cream cheese... then topped with grilled onions, a few dabs of yellow mustard, and a few pickled jalapeños on top.

It's a darn good dog. And I'm happy people are starting to discover it.

Back when I was trying my best to care for my ailing mother, my anxiety was at the highest it had ever been. In an attempt to try and manage it without medication, I bought a weighted blanket. Which was advertised as a help to anxiety (among other things), but was completely useless when it came to me. So I packed it away in my closet and didn't give it another thought.

Until Jenny puked on the blanket I had on my bed. I didn't have any others unpacked from storage, so I grabbed the only on I could find: my weighted blanket.

"But Dave," you might be saying, "what does this have to do with Caturday?"

So here you go: It's freaking out my cats.

The weight it probably coming from some kind of tiny metal pellets. But Jake and Jenny think it's sand. So whenever the walk across it, they stop and try to "dig" into it.

Which is to say that I really, really hope that I don't come home to it being all busted to shit with a mess everywhere. Maybe I should be reconsidering getting a new kitten next year?

Yeah, if I ended up with a cat like that, it's likely more than the blanket that's getting shredded.

   
• Solo Funtime Gaming! If you've taken a look at my game collection at Board Game Geek, you'll have seen that there's only one game which gets a perfect 10 ("Outstanding. Always want to play and expect this will never change")... and it's called Puzzle Dungeon. It's essentially a more fun version of Solitaire. I originally had it as a "print-and-play" game, where you pay for a file that you can print out and play with. I fell in love with it immediately. Until my cards were lost and I couldn't find the file to reprint them. I tried to buy a printed set but, wisely, there were none available on eBay because people don't want to part with them. Except I recently found out that the designer, Brian Garber, has reprinted the game and is selling it on his Etsy shop...

And, let me tell you, I snapped up the Deluxe Box, the Expansion Set, and the Play Mat SO fast. I haven't played in years, and October 19th (the ship date) can't come soon enough. I really hope that his Puzzle Dungeon: Pets expansion gets printed one day. And that his other game, To The Death eventually gets reprinted, because I'd love to play that.

   
• Not Helping! One of the most classic of the classic BritComs is That Mitchell and Webb Look. There's been a hit of controversy over this 20-year-old show lately because the BBC cut out some sketches which were deemed "insensitive to modern audiences" or something like that. But the situation is a bit more complicated than that. One of the sketches was cut because Mitchell and Webb were in blackface. But the sketch was pointing out that the white people were able to overlook that the blackface was racist until the situation escalated, and it was the escalation which convinced them to stop and not the actual blackface. The ignorance is the entire point of the sketch. So maybe it's not that modern audiences are "sensitive" to it... it's more likely that modern audiences wouldn't understand it. I don't know. Since I'm white, it's really not my place to say whether it's racist, so I trust that the BBC looked into it by consulting those who can make that call. But in any event, Mitchell and Webb have been back for a few months with a new YouTube series called Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping. I've been enjoying it...

I hope they keep going with the series, because their humor has had more than a few bits that were highly insightful and relevant even today, with this being their most famous...

Though there's talk that the BBC wanted to cut that sketch as well, so maybe I'm completely out of the loop? I wonder if this one was considered...

AND THEN... the state of inoffensive comedy gets a comment...

A new classic.

   
• Perfect! Verbi can be brutal. But always hilarious...

I've used Verbi to try and expand my vocabulary, and the app is never completely happy with your performance.

   
• Cash! A dollar is a dollar...

LOL. As insane as it sounds, I'm sure there are plenty of people wearing a band shirt who can't name any of their songs.

   
• The Mighty Thor! For the longest time, I'd see a guy named "Thoren Bradley" pop up on my social media. His entire deal was grabbing an axe and splitting big chunks of wood. And a lot of women shared his posts, which is why he was everywhere. But I never thought to follow him until he started sharing his thoughts on anything and everything. And it turns out he's a very smart thinker who can enunciate his takes on things very well indeed. Which really seems to piss off the "alpha male" contingent...

Whatever his sexuality may be, he's never going to stop having female fans, that's for sure...

And about that...

   
• Feeeemales! It's fucking incredible that this country is content to treat half the population as nothing more than birthing machines, undeserving of proper care when something goes terribly wrong...

This country hates women. Hates them.

   
• SERIOUSLY HATES THEM! A 20-year-old Cornell student says she was pressured into snorting ketamine at the Chi Phi house in Ithaca on the night of October 19, 2024. At 1:42am, according to her lawsuit, a fraternity member posted two words in the frat’s Snapchat group chat, Chi Phi Actives: "Free pussy.” The complaint says Johnathan Newell sent it. More men came upstairs after that. She says the assault went on until about 5:45 in the morning. More than four hours. These seven men are named in the lawsuit:
      • Matthew Ingalls
      • Johnathan Newell
      • Winston Lee
      • Gillio Lopes
      • Diego Sarabia
      • Scott Norris
      • Scott Kretzschmar
She reported it to campus police on November 8, 2024. The fraternity was suspended, and so were those seven men, temporarily. Then, according to the lawsuit, Cornell offered them a way to “mitigate” what they’d done. Write an essay... yes, an essay. Those named deny any wrongdoing. This information was taken from a Facebook post, but reported in The Cornell Daily Sun.

   
And, on that entirely depressing note, I'm off to prepare for the busy week ahead.