Category: General

None of the Above (1) will be performing at the All Asia Cafe and Bar (2) on Sunday, October 2nd, starting at 4pm. We’ll have about an hour and a half worth of music, with a short intermission. We’ll be performing a selection of jazz, pop, and classical tunes. All Asia is mere steps from MIT, making it very T accessible, and parking can be found nearby. There is a $5 cover charge, which is a very low cost for 90 minutes or more of entertainment.

Look forward to seeing you there…

1: http://noneabove.org
2: http://allasiabar.com

I’m a big board game geek, that’s no surprise to most. This means that I often come across cases of ‘variations’ or ‘house rules’. By and by, I support the idea. Many pople do. think about when you play Monopoly. What house rules do you use? That said, most games have undergone a lot of playtesting, and the rules are well worked out; so don’t change the rules so much that you are playing a different game. Actually, one should always be careful when using variants or house rules that everyone playing agrees to them, or else it borders on unfaur and unethical play (not quite as bad as cheating). If going overboard helps illustrate the point, see http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40779&rss=1 .

Oh, and if you’re curious about Ethics and Gaming, go read the articles on it over at http://www.thegamesjournal.com/

Well, part two took a litle longer than I expected.

Sunday morning dawned bright and early, perhaps even a little too early. Thanks to ironing the night before, I was able to dress quickly and proceeded to pack all our stuff while asdr83 did her best with her hair, which had overnight decided to rebel. I stepped out to the motel office to check out their ‘breakfast’, and grabbed a bagel. Most of the items were prepackaged baked goods from the grocery store, and later I grabbed a cinnamon bun to go.

Natbudin and v_cat picked us up around 9:30, and we got rolling. This was a bit early for an 11:30 wedding, but seeing as they had parts to play in the ceremony, it made sense for them to be there early. But we were there before almost anyone else from the wedding party. It gave us time to hang around and greet people as they came in. asdr83 got a little peopled out at one point and wandered off for a few minutes. I went down into the basement to help rig up the audio system for the wedding; the A/B switch for the idoorand outdoor speakers consisted of unplugging the wires from the indoor speaker and connecting them to the outdoor one.

The service finally got underway, a little late as they almost always are. I got to run up and down stairs to start and stop the music for the procession of the bride, then run back to my seat. It was a gorgeous day, especially given the rain the day before. The rabbi was excellent, and kept everyone’s attention where it belonged. The wedding was small, with only about 80 people in attendance. Afterwards, everyone had a good time chatting during the cocktail hour, and then we were seated for the meal. The food was a bit slow, but I hink the staff was a bit short on numbers, and because they took the dish requests at the tables, there were probably delays due to arranging the right number of dishes. The music selected for dancing had much to recommend it, and I wish it had gone on longer than it did.

A little after 5, we finally said our goodbyes, bid the happy couple tons of well wishes, and set out. After a few unplanned twists and turns, we made it onto the highway again. After a little while we made it to a rest stop and everyone jumped out to change into mundanes again. Having slipped into something more comfortable, we got underway again, stopping again along the way to get gas and dinner. At that point I started having difficulties with my ATM card (I called them yesterday and they acknowledge a problem and are sending me a new card, with apologies), which made it difficult for me to repay natbudin for the gas as I’d intended to, so instead dinner was on me. Then the sleepies started creeping in. Myself and natbudin managed to stay awake for most of the time, but when we hit Rte. 90 he and v_cat switched so he could recoup a little. We made it back to campus, where I picked up the car and dragged ourselves back to Framingham. By then it was almost midnight, so we crept into bed. So that’s why I didn’t post on Sunday.

The adventure of the bleemoo and bichika wedding weekend, part one.

Scene 12: Right now I’m sitting in a scene out of a movie. I’m in one of those little motel rooms that you often see in the movies; tiny room with an even tinier bathroom. The distance from the front door to the back door can be casually traversed in a matter of steps. It’s not dirty or damaged or anything like that, it’s just…. cheap. And poorly lit. We’ve got the tv with a slightly off picture, and no way to adjust it. We’ve got a shower stall instead of a tub. We’ve got a huge picture window that looks out over the motel parking lot, and a major highway a few yards from the compound. It does have some features though, including air conditioning, and wireless access, of all things; and it a fit of precognizance, I brought my laptop.

The first scenes of the day were of asdr83 and I waking up and packing our travel bags, complete with the obligatory scene where I rip through much of the place including most of the as of yet unpacked boxes to find the missing tie. Said tie was easily found as soon as I stopped to think about where it might have gone to. Flicker forward to breakfast at our favorite Waltham haunt, Arcadia Restaurant (right across from Hannaford’s, highly recommended), early morning haircuts, last minute shopping, and crawling into an empty office to print out the motel information.

Moments later, we were off down the road, coasting along thanks to the kind company of natbudin and v_cat, who offered to share their travel with us. Thanks! Because of this, asrd83 and I opted to take an inexpensive lodging option conveniently located along the route, and near enough that dropping us off tonight and picking us up on the way tomorrow would be convenient. So, after a few hours of almost traffic free travel, one bout of pulling over for a flash of rain, and a brief lunchtime repast, we found ourselves here.

After taking a few moments to explore our temporary abode (that didn’t take long…), I proceeded to borrow an iron and ironing board from the office, conveniently located right outside our front door, and set to work preparing for tomorrow, while asdr83 idly flipped tv channels and read her book. Getting to be a little later in the evening, we headed out to check out the small town we were in and grab a bite. After making it through all of the center of town in 10 minutes or so, and not finding much in the way of food options, the skies started opening up on us. Ducking into one of several asian places in town as much to get out of the rain as exploring the quality of food, we opted to ignore the rain and walk back across town (another 10 minutes) to a little hole in the wall pizza joint. The pizza was good and by the time we were done, so was the rain for the most part. A quick stop at a carvel stand for soft serve, and we were back here.

Look for the second half of the adventure tomorrow, after it takes place.