Santa’s come and gone, leaving behind a small armada of games for us to try out: Zombie Dice (and Zombie Dice 2) and the Mars Attacks Dice Game, both by Steve Jackson Games, and Star Fluxx by Loony Labs.
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Category: Geek Dad
Geeky Christmas Vacation 2014
Christmas Vacation is finally here. After long days and longer nights of working to make sure everything got done before I left the office, it’s Christmas Eve, the college is closed, and I think I can relax. I’m off from December 24 through January 4, and we’ve got all manner of family fun planned, including watching Guardians of the Galaxy with my parents (something the kids are eager to do) and some family skiing (which I’m eager to do).
Read moreThe Quest for a Bean Bag Chair
I’m on the quest for a bean bag chair. It a quest driven by equal parts nostalgia and practicality. Nostalgia for the red bean bag chair I had as a kid, practicality because I need a chair that’s comfortable and[…]
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Geek Tree 2014
The 2014 edition of the Geek Tree is up. As has been our tradition for years (exactly how many years I can’t recall) I setup a dedicated Christmas tree for all of my geeky ornaments. It typically goes up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and is packed with all manner of genre ornaments representing Star Wars, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Loony Tunes, The Hobbit, the Marvel universe, and many more.
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Coach Newquist
It’s probably the goatee.
Somewhere around the year 1998, an alternative version of myself never started watching the Mets again. Never got hooked on the Subway Series between the Mets and the Yankees in 2000. Never started playing baseball games again on his Xbox 360, never started throwing baseballs on the quad at the college where he works, never went to an IronPigs game, never assistant coached his daughter’s softball team…
Read moreLEGO and the Death of Imagination
There’s this meme that’s circulating that claims that themed LEGO sets — Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. — are killing imagination. The argument goes that unlike the generic sets of old (or even better,[…]
Read moreSearching for Kid-friendly Board Games
Winter is coming. In my house, that means long weekends trapped inside with increasingly crazy, argumentative kids enraged by too many hours fighting over the rules to Uno, Life, and Monopoly. It’s the sort of thing that inspired Cracked’s “Six[…]
Read moreDisney World With Kids, Part 4: Lessons Learned
My family and I recently went to Disney World. This is part 4 of my 4 part series looking at the trip. Read Part 1: Downtown Disney, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Part 2: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Part 3: Pin Trading, Autographs, Fastpass, Card Games.
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Father’s Day 2012
I was on the road last week, missing my family terribly and looking forward to getting back home. Oh sure, I had a blast on my trip — I got to hang out with higher education friends as part of Moodle Hack/Doc Fest at Kalamazoo College, I saw two baseball games, and got to watch prices rise and fall at the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange — but I was looking forward to coming home the whole time.
The Geek Tree, 2010 Edition
The Geek Tree returned in 2010, but not in its standard format. In an effort to conserve space, and to avoid having rampant two-year-olds Godzilla the ornaments, I combined the Geek Tree with the Family Tree. The upside was that[…]
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