2012 Tales from the Geek
It's tales from Board Game Geek (BGG) Convention 2012.
Met up in hot games room and tried to play some new stuff but I had major attention deficit; plus, it was loud and all game teachers very busy. No fun slogging through rules because it takes away from playtime. Pretty uneventful day but did get to watch two dudes playing the most awesome two-player adventure War of the Ring (based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings); and I got to hear our new friend, David, explain to me how cool the Collector's Edition is (which he also happens to own which is amazing since there are only around 1,000 copies in the world).
This theme is also very fitting since Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (movie) comes out in December but we head out that night with Brian, Jeff, Jill, Lewis, Marty, Mark, and David to Babe's Chicken in Arlington. Normally, we'd go to the location in Pleasanton but this one's much closer to the DFW airport. For the past three years during BGG, Babe's is a ritual spot for us and it's sooo delish with family-sized Chicken Fried Steak and the best fried chicken you'll ever have...ever (and, I don't even like fried chicken!) As a bonus, they have homemade everything all-you-can-eat with delish sides and homemade biscuits with real sorghum! Seriously, it's that good! Plus, if you need a geography reference, it's close to the new Texas Stadium.
A few weeks ago, a manager at our office, who grew up in Hewitt near Waco, tells me she has very fond memories going to Kitok on a regular basis and her favorite dish is beef bulgoki. Their other specialities are the burgers along with the "Oriental Fries," a delightful fried concoction of very slenderly sliced veggies including zucchini and carrots.
As usual, all stories are true as best the author's recollection and some names have been changed to protect privacy. Here's the reverse chronology from our trip to the DFW Airport Hyatt (not the Grand...the other one). :)
Day 6 - Sunday, October 17
Headin' home - all things uneventful
Day 5 - Saturday, October 16
If you've seen the AMC TV show, Mad Men, then you know all about the favorite yet flawed TV account exec, Harry Crane, played by Rich Somer. Turns out that Mr. Somer is also a boardgamer in real life and he was this year's official celeb guest and is a swell guy to meet for an autograph! Be sure to Google his entire bio on IMDB since I'm really not doing his talent justice by this brief mention; however, I also really enjoy his cameo in The Devil Wears Prada (pre-Men fame).
Day 4 - Friday, October 15
The annual (free) Texas Hold-Em tourney - yay Brian, who took 2nd place from all 250+ contenders and won the custom BGG poker chip set--these are legendary and complete with the BGG logo (picture coming soon)! Also, kudos to Stephanie from Los Angeles (a true poker shark) and, a very devastating true tale (not about poker) from an affluent guy who lives a large town in Mexico that was once a popular tourist spot 20 years ago and is known for its mountains. After hearing many horror stories in the news about the drug cartels in this area, I ask him about whether it's really as bad as we hear. He says with a suave accent, "Not really. I mean, you have to understand [this] city has about five million people." OK, so far so good, but what about the reports? He says that you just stay away from the dangerous areas and go about your business...but, every day on my way to work, I see dead bodies along the roadside. That's just how it is. It's terrible but what are you going to do? I mean, the worst thing that ever happened to me, personally, is that I was driving along a fairly busy area and look in my rear view to see two large trucks gaining speed behind me moving side by side with guys drawing their machine guns on both sides. I just floored it and got out of there.
Day 3 - Thursday, October 15
We played our afternoon tradition and mostly all-day Age of Renaissance (AoR) marathon (six hours) with Hunny, Lewis, Marty, and Astro. By the way, Marty clobbered us all with his personal-best 3,500+ points; and, amazingly enough, he didn't even corner the silk market (this time)! One of theseS days, I'm gonna win that damn game!
How I love it so! It's a world-domination slugfest where you try to conquer your opponents and control all resources and technology without getting too many misery hits which can lead to your death and elimination from the game. Oh, you can also conduct diplomacy but beware -- you and your opponents can lie and it's not considered cheating. When we play, we typically make deals without lies but you can do basically anything except tell people the exact cards you have in your hand.
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| l to r: Marty, Astro, Tim, and Lewis figure their next moves in Age of Renaissance (AoR). |
How I love it so! It's a world-domination slugfest where you try to conquer your opponents and control all resources and technology without getting too many misery hits which can lead to your death and elimination from the game. Oh, you can also conduct diplomacy but beware -- you and your opponents can lie and it's not considered cheating. When we play, we typically make deals without lies but you can do basically anything except tell people the exact cards you have in your hand.
Day 2 - Wednesday, October 14
Met up in hot games room and tried to play some new stuff but I had major attention deficit; plus, it was loud and all game teachers very busy. No fun slogging through rules because it takes away from playtime. Pretty uneventful day but did get to watch two dudes playing the most awesome two-player adventure War of the Ring (based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings); and I got to hear our new friend, David, explain to me how cool the Collector's Edition is (which he also happens to own which is amazing since there are only around 1,000 copies in the world).This theme is also very fitting since Peter Jackson's The Hobbit (movie) comes out in December but we head out that night with Brian, Jeff, Jill, Lewis, Marty, Mark, and David to Babe's Chicken in Arlington. Normally, we'd go to the location in Pleasanton but this one's much closer to the DFW airport. For the past three years during BGG, Babe's is a ritual spot for us and it's sooo delish with family-sized Chicken Fried Steak and the best fried chicken you'll ever have...ever (and, I don't even like fried chicken!) As a bonus, they have homemade everything all-you-can-eat with delish sides and homemade biscuits with real sorghum! Seriously, it's that good! Plus, if you need a geography reference, it's close to the new Texas Stadium.
Day 1 (on the road) - Tuesday, October 13
Hun and I hit the road mid-afternoon after dropping Anya off at the kitty condos. We reach Waco around 2:30 pm in time for late lunch at Kitok (yum)! This Korean diner is a delightful dive complete with a New York Times (favorable) review on the wall near the front register. I love this place due to it's homey vibe and historic family past and present that you'll have to read or ask about when you visit because I can't find any reliable online summary (sigh).
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| Kitok in Waco - Be sure to check out their NY Times review on the wall when you first arrive! |
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| The famous Kitok "Oriental Fries" which are not potatoes at all but fried veggies and these happen to look like a pirate ship! How fitting before a board game convention! |
After you leave Waco, if you're ever on the way to Dallas, we highly recommend taking the back roads from Elm Mott to Hillsboro (take the road east of I-35 that runs parallel immediately next to the Elm Mott Dairy Queen.) It's a very scenic drive and the roads are flat and mostly quiet. Plus, as a bonus, if you get there near dusk and there's any cloud cover, you'll see the most gorgeous sunsets you've ever seen in your life. That's a promise! Imagine a purple sky with a giant pink ball exploding in the center. It's also wonderful to see parts of Texas we rarely visit. The Elm Mott DQ staff is very friendly but the bathrooms are a stinky fright! This mural is cool, though:
Don't know if you've ever been to the DFW airport but it's HUGE (larger than Manhattan!) and this is the first year BGG Con has ever been at this location. The first two years (with 250 people) was held at The Westin (downtown Dallas) and all others were at The Westin in Irving (just down the street from DFW airport). This year, with 2,100 visitors, they really needed the larger space that the Hyatt provides. The only drawback with the DFW Hyatt Regency is that it takes sooooo long to enter and leave the airport but it sure is fascinating to see all the available international airlines that hub from this location including: Qantas, Lufthansa, Virgin America, Emirates Airlines, and many more! Sure don't see these in Austin (yet)! Also, if you go, be aware that hotel parking is $17 per day unless you get validation (which everyone does with the con...whew!) Coincidentally, this was also the first-ever Formula One race weekend (held in Austin on Sunday, October 17, around 2:00 pm) but the festivities started on Thursday while we were away so am eager to get the full update from coworkers tomorrow on how things went with more than 300,000 people visiting from all around the world!
Anyway, we get to DFW Hyatt around 6:30 and the "Geekdo" crew is starting to setup the conference rooms and main lobby areas with games and other goodies including a massive Heroscape tower! Geeky goodness though not sure if this is a playable board or just for show.
We wander around a bit and then grab late dinner at the hotel buffet. As we're dining, we invite our friend Gene to the table as his flight has just arrived from Houston. Although he's not hungry, he kindly sits down to chat and order a drink. He teaches at a private school in Houston and plans to Skype the event live for his students from his iPad while he's there. Neeto! Also, he orders a fruity alcoholic beverage and when it arrives he notices that it's not very punchy. When the bill arrives, it's says "N/A" next to the drink (non-alcoholic). He's rather baby face, but well over the legal age, so they kindly bring him another round. He says at the airport bar earlier that afternoon he actually got carded, and didn't mind, but not here (they just assume he's underage). Hee hee hee.
We wander around a bit and then grab late dinner at the hotel buffet. As we're dining, we invite our friend Gene to the table as his flight has just arrived from Houston. Although he's not hungry, he kindly sits down to chat and order a drink. He teaches at a private school in Houston and plans to Skype the event live for his students from his iPad while he's there. Neeto! Also, he orders a fruity alcoholic beverage and when it arrives he notices that it's not very punchy. When the bill arrives, it's says "N/A" next to the drink (non-alcoholic). He's rather baby face, but well over the legal age, so they kindly bring him another round. He says at the airport bar earlier that afternoon he actually got carded, and didn't mind, but not here (they just assume he's underage). Hee hee hee.
After dinner with Gene, Hun and I wander to the "quiet games" area away from the main setup zones and find some not unexpected Geeks getting in some pre-con nighttime games. We meet Bill (from San Francisco) as well as Mike, and his wife, Maura, although, sadly, I don't recall where they're from. They kindly teach us how to play Escape and Sidibaba. Both are adventure-theme games where you're trying to gather treasure under time pressure and the winner is the person who flees with the highest-value items. Oh, and also, don't die! Mike and Maura also take a goodnight phone call from their daughter and she sounds quite impressive since she's been playing Escape since she was four and today is her fifth birthday (but, kiddos are not allowed at the con since it's primarily a hobby meant for older teens and adults.) Nevertheless, we also find out that Maura's PhD is in researching poisonous frogs; however, right now she's happiest being called Mom! Cool! You meet the most interesting folks!
