Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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| Image by Tumisu from Pixabay |
Can it be true?
Can the year really be nearing its halfway point, so soon after it started?
Why, yes, it can.
But we may, at least, take solace in the fact that, while time trundles relentlessly onward, some things never change.
And one of those is that the second half of a month brings the return of a feature possessed of an immutability that could defy the gods themselves.
It is, of course, the one in which the first person to comment below gets to decide just what the day's topic for debate shall be.
Such a thing is never predictable and, therefore, I can only sit with bated breath and wait to discover just what that topic shall be.
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27 comments:
I never understood the “bating” of one’s breath.
Totally aside today’s subject, whatever it may be, remind Charlie why you would buy the weekly Marvel compilation vs. the actual Marvel comic for sale? Better deal? A way to catch up on previous stories, albeit five or six pages at a time?
Anon (Charlie?), bating one's breath merely means holding one's breath. As in, "To abate one's breath." One would do such a thing at a moment of tension.
As for the Marvel UK books, they were usually easier to find and usually contained elderly material it would be hard to acquire for the more casual reader.
Charlie, when I discovered Marvel in 1974 the UK weeklies were the only Marvel comics available.
D'OH! My above comment accidentally appeared as a reply to Steve's comment.
Anyway, as there's no question so far, here's a question for this week:
What were your favourite board games? Do you still play board games?
My own favourite board games were Connect 4 (it counts as a board game!) and Cluedo and Monopoly.
I recall owning Planet Of The Apes and Star Wars board games but I don't remember the rules.
As a secondary question - do they still make jigsaws nowadays? Are jigsaws still popular?
When my brothers and I were little, we played lots of board games — Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Battleship, Stratego, Life, Password, Aggravation, etc. We LOVED Trouble, which was basically just Aggravation but with the super-fun “Pop-O-Matic” dice bubble in the center of the board. The commercial is still lodged in my brain:
“Pop-O-Matic pops the dice
Pop a six and you move twice
Race your men around the track
And try to send the others back”
And yes, they still make jigsaw puzzles. I’ve seen some that are quite elaborate, with 3D inserts, multiple levels, etc. Almost like table-top dioramas, not just flat pictures. But the ‘basic’ ones are still popular too, I think.
b.t.
COLIN - fun questions!
Charlie and Mrs. frequently play Backgammon during the cold months (October- April in Chicago).
Mrs. Charlie always has a jigsaw in progress in the TV room and Charlie will occasionally watch the action.
And all the libraries around us have an ongoing jigsaw in progress! Generally olderfolks can be seen working it solo or collaboratively at the dedicated tables which have a frame around the perimeter to stop pieces from falling on the floor.
Also all the libraries have jigsaw exchanges. What I can’t figure out is the people who bring in their 1000-piece puzzle to trade with a note taped on it saying “pieces missing.” Wth…???!!!
Connect 4 and Scrabble are probably the only board games I liked. Connect 4 is totally a board game, it’s just the board is vertical. Unless you want to invent a new category for it: wall game?
Jigsaws are still being made!
My wife and I got into doing them for a while over lockdowns. They were quite soothing and promoted conversation, allowed you to listen to music (rather than just watch TV or movies).
You can even get custom ones made from your own photos.
Question-related question…
Did anyone have the Mouse Trap board game?
If so, did you ever actually play the game - or like me, did you just put the contraption together to set it off?
My family didn't play board games much. However, 'Stay Alive', with dropping marbles, is one I do remember. Because kids' attention spans are short, you need an adult to explain the rules, and set the ball rolling etc, sometimes. My brother-in-law got us playing Risk, at one point, and occasionally Monopoly. The concept of board games is probably more interesting now, than it was then. We did play Chess & Draughts, however. Both games seemed engaging, exciting/interesting stuff happening all the time. But, horses for courses! Oh - I also remember having Ker-plunk, and Operation - but, strictly speaking, they're not board games!
Phillip
I used to play oard ganes when I was young and playedChinese Chequers with my mum when I was older ( and my mum was still here) . As a kid I loved board games and remember watching my older brother and his pals playing cool games like Formula 1 and The Battle of Little Big Horn . I recently saw bith these ganes for sale in a charity shop for £40 each they were near mint but way above my nostalgia threshold.
I remember a game Spy Ring that I liked but no one I know remember a that game Fav board game is the classic Monopoly. I always fancied playing Risk but got no takers.
board games arghhh !
Phillip, if Connect 4 counts as a board game then so do Operation and Ker-Plunk!
We played many board games growing up. Monopoly was a favorite, Yahtzee, and as crosswords were a big thing atour place- Scrabble. In college Trivial Pursuit was pretty popular.
These days we still occasionally play board games, albeit not as frequently as I'd like. One complex one is "Talisman", kind of a board game version of Dungeons and Dragons. We have several expansion sets, and I've been painting the figurines.
We play Farkle pretty often (if dice games count). And I still have a Spider-Man Monopoly set which is fairly cool, especially the player pieces...
On the subject of jigsaw puzzles: we do those too. We have a Beatles jigsaw framed on our wall- features images of many of their international 45rpm single sleeves.
I remember another board game I had when I was 9 or 10.
It was called Starships, and you had a long horizontal board and a big deck of cards of starship modules; you and your opponent would have to build a long starship each from the modules. I can’t remember how the winner was judged, but it was great.
The spaceship graphics were really sleek and seductive.
My sister used to love playing it with me early on Christmas mornings before our parents got up.
I still have it somewhere!
Matthew:
We never played Mouse Trap ‘properly’ either, just set up the Rube Goldbergian contraption and let it rip!
Phillip:
Nobody I knew ever had the Stay Alive game, so I never played it. But man, the commercial for it ran during the cartoons on Saturday mornings for at least a decade, it seemed. Another one that’s imbedded in my brain permanently. I’ll probably be quoting it on my deathbed like Charles Foster Kane:
“I’m gonna block that strategy…I’m out…me too…I win…I’m the sole survivor…”
b.t.
Matthew:
I never even heard of Starships. I googled it just now and ended up on a website called boardgamegeeks.com, that has pix of the box and the board and the playing pieces. The graphics do look pretty great!
b.t.
We used to play a game called Acquire that was kinda like a combination of Scrabble and Monopoly. That one took a fair bit of concentration and patience; the game play usually took at least an hour.
b.t.
FWIW, nearly every town in Chicagoland has a “gaming” store which hosts whatever kind of weekly board-game playing sessions. Clearly no longer Monopoly, Life or Parchesi. And not so uncommon for this to be seen in comic book stores which sell both.
Same in UK?
Also, now that Mrs. Charlie is retired she plays Mahjong in a weekly group with around 8-10 other neighbors. Mahjong??!!! I always heard that was a 1920s fad LOL.
Colin, thanks for the topic. We used to play a number of board games, when I was little but I'd say that Monopoly, draughts and Snakes and Ladders were my favourites.
These days, the only board game I ever play is chess but I only play it against computers.
b.t. - Yes, good slogans & jingles long outlast their products. I vaguely remember, "I've survived!", being emphatically declared on a boardgame ad; but I think it was the game of 'Life' ! ( Although 'Stay Alive' is a possibility, too! )
Phillip
You start out with a thousand, then a car
(I got a car!)
You got a car
Then you may go straight to college
Just to get a lot of knowledge
Or to business if you think you’ll go as far
You’ll be a star
The game of Life
(The GAAAAAAAME of Life)
It’s official — I watched WAY too much TV growing up.
b.t.
Hangman was another board game I owned and I've completely forgotten the rules but I do remember the photo of Vincent Price on the box.
Used to like draughts / checkers.
I also seem to remember once knowing the rules to backgammon when I was about 5, but completely forgetting them soon after.
One thing I used to notice about Monopoly was the way it would affect people – a friend of mine likes to think of himself as the most honest, ethical, scrupulous person on Earth – but sit him at a Monopoly board and he becomes the worst lying cheat possible (eg keep an eye on the bank to make sure he doesn’t steal money from it while you’re not looking).
“It’s just a game” is his rationalisation.
Yeah, it’s a great-looking game.
Looking at that site, I remember I had a game based on the movie 1981 Dragonslayer: I never played it, it was boring, but I had to have it as a bit of merch from the film, which I absolutely loved.
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