Balderdash!

The world should know that our fieldtrip to Target produced the very best of competitive board gaming. While Scattergories has often caused conflict and forced Hannah into hiding, our purchase of Balderdash was genius and caused a bit of upheaval when Hannah stole the game, with her opponents barely halfway through. (Note the orange "man" in the picture above. That's Hannah.)

In their retirement, Hannah, Matt and Lesley Anne Stalvey (LAS) unwrapped the purchase and delved into the joy of Balderdash. With the ultimate goal to fool your components into choosing your false definition of the given word, movie, person, etc., word choice as well as a solid poker face are keys to success. While a generally consistent winning strategy of Scattergories, Matt's desire for dick references became his tell in this inaguaral Balderdashery. Hannah had the bad habit of beaming every time someone chose her answer. And LAS had a bit of a tough time with the whole literacy thing.

Overall, the festivities were cheery and the game had the perfect mix of intelligence, strategy and bawdy humor. I predict a rematch.

Frozen Skateboard Pong

Short for "Frozen Daquiri Skateboard Pong," Frozen Skateboard Pong is a game we invented one Sunday afternoon to pass the time while Sara napped. The game is a species of beer pong as played at Dartmouth College, with paddles. The game started on the floor, with a skateboard employed as the median dividing the two sides. Frozen daquiris, the only alcohol on hand, replaced the traditional cups of beer. Hannah Yaz and I played about a dozen games with winner remaining on the table. Hannah probably held table the longest, although I managed to be the one wearing the victory sash when the dust settled. I tend to be the last one bored with a game.

Petanque

16th Street finally satisfied its francophilia with the introduction of petanque, a French yard game much like bocci ball. We found a piste - that's what they call a court - in nearby Prospect Park; the level, dusty ground was shaded by enormous trees and surrounded by a grassy patch where Doozy played a game of his own (chew the stick). Because he spent his term abroad in Paris buying fake hash from bums and playing petanque with neo nazis in Les Buttes Chaumants, MJ gave lessons on how to throw the boules. Everyone enjoyed the game - expect competition to heat up this fall. Particularly appealing is the fact that it requires little physical activity (Sara would disagree), involves the outdoors and is best accompanied by a fancy french apertif that nobody really likes.

Sorry! on tap for tonight, possibly some Scattergories

Last week's Sorry! session yielded a 3-way tie, so we'll break out the board tonight to answer temporarily the question of who on 16th street is truly the Sorriest. My whole life people have teamed up against me in Sorry!. Something about my face. My guess is that Hannah and Sara's collaboration will help them steal a few games from me early on, but that team will inevitably crumble from internal strife. I'll mop up during the confusion caused by Hannah's annoyance with Sara.

Also, although my Scattergories title is undisputed, i welcome any and all challengers.