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After finishing Act I, Thu H and I were pretty proud of ourselves and pumped to continue, so last Monday, we met up with Jon K at Dolores Park to try to do Act II of the Games of Nonchalance. He and Christine L had already done most of Act II, but were missing one component.
Again, I’m splitting up this post in case you feel like trying to complete Act II on your own.
Thanks in part to the Suvudu Cage Match but mostly to Isaac L’s suggestion, I picked up the Hunger Games series a couple of weeks ago. The books are short and aimed towards the “young adult” crowd so I managed to burn through the trilogy in a weekend.
First impression — the first book is very similar to Battle Royale, only with a distinctly American female perspective. And like with Battle Royale, I would have been happy if the story ended with the completion of the games. Even if Suzanne Collins planned for it to be a series the whole time, I think it would have been better if she had ended the first book a few pages sooner instead of setting up the sequel.
Unlike Battle Royale, I did enjoy the follow ups. (Not so much as the first, though. I’ve realized I’m very milieu-oriented.) The action made sense, even if the teen-angst got old. It (or at least Katniss) wasn’t as political as Suvudu led me to believe, but I suppose not everything can be Dune. I did like the Capitol/District conflict more than Battle Royale’s generational one. The Hunger Games as a form of both control and entertainment works better than a bizarre way to keep juvenile delinquents in line, and I honestly did feel Katniss’s hunger (reading straight through helped, too) and appreciated my own life circumstances a little more.
(from Kate Wheeler)
I hear they are making it into a movie, too! I like Jennifer Lawrence for Katniss. It’s pretty similar to her Oscar-nominated role in Winter’s Bone, so I’m sure she’ll do well. Plus she proved on Oscar night that she cleans up well for the Capitol scenes. Not sure about the casting for Peeta and Gale, though. Josh Hutcherson seems scrawnier than I had pictured for Peeta, but he can fill out. Liam Hemsworth, on the other hand, seems too bulky for Gale. Maybe he can pull a Machinist, but I highly doubt it.
If you haven’t read the series, you should check it out!
After we wrapped up Act 1 of the Games of Nonchalance, Thu H and I caught a bus back to my place, and I drove us to meet up with Aaron L and Sue L for some board game action and to watch the Sharks game. Originally, Sue L was going to host, but Chris T and Tina K offered up their place, so we headed to Hayward.
Got there in the middle of a game of Carcassonne. Got to try Kona Brewing Co.‘s Koko Brown, a coconut beer.
Pretty damn tasty!
Also had some Asahi Black while we watched the Sharks game. Chris T and Tina K also put out a cheese and dried fruit platter and we classed it up with multiple wines, including a Passover kosher one. Aaron L explained that to make wine good for Passover (“the breadless holiday”), they remove the yeast early before it raises. Not sure where that point is in the wine fermentation process, but it definitely tasted like it was stopped and then fortified.
Jason G also stopped by, and we played a couple of games of You Don’t Know Jack, which Chris T had for his XBOX. Turns out, he used to play the original on PC back in the day, too! Playing with four players at once was really fun. I really wish we could do it with the Steam version. Or better yet, network play!
After that, we taught everyone Forbidden Island. Started on Normal on a relatively easy board (all the important spots near the center), but still lost due to the water level reaching instant death levels.
After that, headed home. All in all, a fantastic way to spend a Saturday!