Dice and more dice

I know, "on paper", as the saying goes, it seems out of character for me. I'm not a dice collector, and I don't play D&D or any RPGs.
Sure, among the games I like there are many that have dice in them, but they already have dice.
Even so, there are 3 Kickstarter campaigns I've backed of just that - dice and more dice.

I do like fun and interesting things, and these appealed to me.

The first was not really dice for rolling, more of a decorative item - a desk toy. (Celtic) Knot Dice (launched April 2015). I backed these mostly because of the Celtic knots, and not specifically because of the dice. They are to make your own various layouts and there are also rules for some games/puzzles you can try. They had a follow-up campaign with "dice in three new types, allowing for more players, more patterns, more fun"
currently sold out at: https://www.blackoakgames.com/ but they say they "will be back in summer 2020"

The second was "Have A Nice Dice" from January 2016.  Adorable smiley face dice, that just make me happy to look at.  I also had some major influence on the development, recommending a winking eye instead of their planned Cyclops face for the 1-pip. They decided to go with both designs, letting backers mix and match. I would post a link, but they don't seem to be for sale anywhere anymore.

And today I received my latest KS (launched March 2019) "DoubleSix Dice".  Instead of cubes, these are (12-sided) dodecahedrons, with each number 1 through 6 twice.  They also sell triple-4s and "fudge" dice (with "+" and "-").
I only meant to get a few, but there were so many beautiful colors to choose from, I had to get ... a rainbowful.  Unboxing Unbagging pictures below.  This was their second D6D campaign, and they plan to do another, with more colors and who knows what other options.
I believe you can order gen 1 and gen 2 dice from the following 2 sites (respectively).
https://www.doublesixdice.com/
https://dd6gen2.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
hopefully they will combine the offerings to one site at some point.

Yes, I know rainbows don't have radial stripes, just go with it.
Funny how they look very lop-sided and distorted in the photos. Trust me, they aren't .

One of the reasons I got them was to replace the dice in Castles Of Burgundy (compare and contrast), so I should also do a plug for the adorable Nano Towers, which I need to get more of  ... What!? they are currently sold out :-(
Hopefully they will return: https://www.etsy.com/listing/617117807/nano-tower

Add this to the wins column

If you know me, you know I enter sweepstakes. not a lot a lot, but still daily and not just a few.
Anyway it seems I have won something again. Two somethings actually. :-)

The first, through Facebook, is KareKare a game of exploring (New Zealand coasts) and getting more canoes, huts and sweet potatoes than your opponents.

The second is a set of 4 candles with (possibly diamond) rings in them.
The dessert inspired scents are
- Triple Berry Crumble
- Homemade Banana Pudding
- Hot Fudge Cake
- Honey Watermelon Mint

see the Grace Anna collection

As they say, maybe I should but a lottery ticket now. ;-)

R

re-update, they arrived :-)

short Italian lesson

Howdy again.  After almost a decade I find myself here again.
Just had a birthday, almost a week ago, so there's that.
No one came of course, because of the corona virus.

"Quarantine" literally means "forties" in Italian ("group/s of forty of anything", the forty days of isolation, being in your forties), but after so long with stay-at-home (to various degrees) we are passed that and Cinquantine, Sessantine and into Settantine, though I am not sure of the exact count anymore, could be Ottantine by now. What date did it start?
And why is no one else using this terminology?

Another strange unrelated (Rammy) thought that has been stewing a while:
Some houses you come in the front door and you are in a regular room in the house, a living room or some such. Some houses you come in the front door to an entry hallway, perhaps with stairs, but clearly part of the inside. Then there are some where it's just a small room, that is certainly not "outside", but (in my opinion) not really "inside" yet either. A sort of mud room, with another door to actually enter the house.

Now imagine in your house, you came into  mud room like that, then through the door is a second mud room, then a third, fourth and even seventh small room, then finally you come into the house proper.  And yes, you have to open the door of each one, and close it behind you.
And when you go outside you also have to go through those rooms.  That would be quite a hassle, don't you agree?
That's kind of how I feel about shirts. and more specifically buttons. At the start and end of each day

button

button

button

button

button

button

button

(some folks "read" that from the top down, some start at the bottom and "read"up)
But yes, I do wear shirts, and no I don't actually think this every time, but still. And what's my "solution"?
There are options, but no real winners (yet?)

Ok, until next time...

A Pallot-ful of Updates

Hey blogsy,

It's been a while since the last update and so much has happened.  Most recently I saw a film called In A Day, a nice (but not great) movie, but it had a good ending, and that's important. Anyway there is a song called New Years "performed" by the main character, but actually sung by Nerina Pallot. I really like her voice, which reminds me of  ... some other singers.  Check it out.

Also I went to a bookstore to hear Ellen Sussman talk about (and read from) her new book French Lessons. There were disappointingly few people there. :-(  The talk was nice and the book is now (physically) on my TBR pile.

We went to the Oakwood Sister City's' Sis-Boom-Ball event, which led to an event at Ariana's birthday party that inspired another 50 word story. (and more ideas are in the pipeworks)

Lisa & I went to The Winds Cafe for a special Southern France dinner event, as a birthday celebration.  Best meal I've had there.  Well, I'm not usually so impressed by them, so maybe that doesn't say a lot, but this meal was "Really good stuff."  Now I'll have to consider if I can afford going to one of their Garlic Dinner events.

Giora is in the US (on the West Coast) and as usual is incommunicado. Quel domage but ... c'est la vie.

Oh, we upgraded to smarty-pants phones. My top apps are:
Waze, Word Weasel, Geohash Droid, Backgammon, 2 PaperBackSwap apps I'm trying to decide between, and a test app I made for GasPriceWatch.

I think that's all for now, hope to see you again before another 3 months goes by.

R

fireworks question

While visiting Fort Collins and Denver, as the high altitude was getting to me I wondered how the thinner air affects other things.

Such as fireworks.  If you set off any specific type of fireworks at dead-sea level, regular sea level, "mile-high" Denver, and atop Mount Everest, would the results be the same?

Could one set off fireworks on the moon?

I tried Google "fireworks higher altitude", but only got result about ones that fly in a higher trajectory.

Any pyrotechnical experts out there?

and as a follow up, do hospitals in Denver have more patients (percentage-wise, I suppose) that have those oxygen tubes, as compared to hospitals in the plains?

there are no calories if you only dream it

Jenn wrote: This [Mac n Cheese] pie recipe came to me in a dream. Looks good to me. Kind of reminds me of one of Giada's recipes for spaghetti pie (Baked Angel Hair with Eggplant). I tried it once with spaghetti squash.  Took forever to bake!

Anyway my own latest food-in-a-dream was something I "saw" and my analytical mind started trying to figure out how it was made, and wonder how it could be cut without crumbling, even though I was still asleep. First, do you know what a Chocolate Lattice is? Now imagine a cake made in a simple bundt pan, no ridges, crowns, tiers, etc. Cut it in half to make two layers. Frost it, also frost the bottom.  Don't worry about it, this is a thought exercise. Now cut it into about eight slices, add frosting between them, and reassemble it into a cake shape. So far so good? Now, magically, replace all the frosting with chocolate lattices, and make the cake itself disappear.  So we have a sort of cage divided into cells, all made of latticed chocolate. That is what I saw.  How would you make it? And how would you cut and serve it? ... surprise me on my birthday

anniv-PI-sary

Happy Pi Day again

Not much to show for a year having gone by.  Ate in some new places, read some more books.
The trip to Cape Charles (in Virginia's "Eastern Shore") was nice (but a long drive).

I still plan to (ie, I had hoped I would have already)
- upgrade to a smart phone
- buy bowling shoes
- post here more often
- discover that I have a few readers

Here are some of the newer eateries (at least for me) that I recommend
CJ Chan at Wilmington & Irving, here in Dayton
Common Grounds coffee shop in Fayetteville, AR
Thai D in Marion, IL

New games, etc
Rory's Story Cubes


ok, go eat some pie

R