BoomMF

Played Ark Nova to see what all the hubbub is about. It was good, and I can see why people like it so much, but I don't think it does anything you can't get somewhere else - It's been said before, but it's true, it's Terraforming Mars with a zoo theme. It's a typical janky Capstone production, so it doesn't have a component quality advantage over a Stronghold game either. Played Hadrian's Wall and it immediately clicked with everyone. If flip and writes are all like this I might need to investigate the genre more! Aaaaand we played it again on a weekend getaway, too. It was so well received that one of the kids asked to play it again solo... That's never happened before. Nemesis: Lockdown was what I expected, more of the same, and that's a good thing - We love Nemesis. The light and dark mechanic is a fun, thematic twist. Finished the first Nemesis campaign and everyone's chomping at the bit to play the second one... And I built one of those gigantic Fancy But Functional game crates for Death May Die. It holds everything, including Rise of R'lyeh, Scarlett, and the comic investigators, in one box but it took the better part of a whole day to build! I don't know if that kind of effort is worth the convenience, but I'm glad to have everything for the game in one Kallax cube. I can think of other games I'd like to do this for, but the thought of building another one of these behemoths makes my stomach uneasy.

Tonight's listening sorted...

So not only did he have only one working leg, Taysom Hill also had itty bitty hands. Fantastic.

Bucket list item checked! The detail on the steel strat is impressive - it's strung for a lefty and the backplate is removed. Needs to be on fire though, like an eternal flame situation. Missed opportunity imo. Whatever, this place is holy and I'm glad to have finally made the pilgrimage.

Had a custom cab built to house the center speaker (upgraded the entire frontline to Atlantic Technology 8200s) which let me move the turntable up to the top, meaning I have no vertical limitations now - so the hunt begins for my endgame player. Thinking a VPI Prime or maybe stay with Pro-Ject and their RPM 10? Regardless, things are getting pretty real over here.

The minis in Kingdom Death Monster are something else. Finished painting waves 1 and 2. Now to find the time to complete a campaign. Here's a couple from the set: Tyrant from the Dragon King expansion. The Manhunter

Played Unsettled by Orange Nebula, who made Vindication, one of my favorite games. Unsettled continues their streak of great games. Completely unrelated to Vindication mechanically, Unsetlled is a heavier and cooperative puzzle wrapped in a space exploration theme that, like Vindication's theme, kind of works and kind of doesn't (But it's a Euro and theme in Euros are like lyrics in a rock song, do they really matter?). Production to die for. Also played the KS version of Mind MGMT. I've had Whitechapel for ages but haven't played it, so this is really the first hidden movement game I've played (Jaws doesn't count, does it?). The game's art took me a second to get used to, but the gameplay itself is stellar. Looking forward to exploring the SHIFT system, which modifies the game with different game pieces, rules, and choices. Played Return to Dark Tower. Continues to be a fun game and makes me wonder how close it is to the original game and would I like to get a copy. And the great Kingdom Death Monster Painting Extravaganza continues. (Decided to severely mod Spidicules to make him less unwieldy) Almost done with all the expansions. Looking forward to introducing this one to some friends and starting another campaign, perhaps one of the expansion campaigns. And in other news, I've always been bothered by games that don't have the titles printed on the shelved side of the box, horizontally specifically. So I busted out the Cricut and decided to do some fixing. Sleeping Gods and Return to Dark Tower done, onto some unfortunately labelled crates by LaserOx and maybe even a few games that decided to title the spine vertically ON ALL SIDES! OCD has won this round. Looks OEM, imo. Crises averted. Added the title to the side of the LaserOx Root crate. My Cricut skills are getting the glow... Nemesis: Lockdown finally made it in after being delayed due to Winterpocalypse 2022. Painting now...

I like overwrought super deluxes with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into a large hologramed box of which I'll probably listen to only the title LP which was available stand-alone for a mere fraction of the price. It's how I seem to roll. To that end, the LZ collection is rounding out... In my defense, though, I've been pretty good about reading the books. And the Zep books in these super deluxes are phenomenal. Tons of ephemera I've never seen. Love the context that stuff provides. And you people that dig those dinky old pressings that damn near fold over themselves when you hold them are animals. 180g or gtfo, respectfully.

Team All The Threads In The Music Section Being About Guitars And Guitar Paraphernalia And Not One Master Thread™

I haven't, but this dude has: If they turn out to be the DG20 pickups in the loaded MoTS pickguard and you're looking to swap them out, holler at your boy.

A UHQR of Kind of Blue will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine. You see the Nevermind Super Duluxe that's incoming in May? Humina humina... https://www.amazon.com/Nevermind-30th-Super-Deluxe-8LP/dp/B09GWRZC89/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1CRSPJT3EPV1W&keywords=nirvana+30th&qid=1641330525&sprefix=nirvana+30th+%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-2

John and a bottle of Coke.

Is this the most underrated Zep album? Yes, yes it is.

I've heard the Sleepwing Gods campaign is about 20 hours long, which isn't too crazy compared to games like Gloomhaven which can get into triple digits. In other news, I'm about to get into ANOTHER over-long campaign game and see what all the fuss is about, Kingdom Death: Montster. Here's the White Lion sorted... Still need to finish painting the starting survivors, but was too anxious to get statrted.

New addition to the music room. loooo

Finally got Sleeping Gods to the table. A little more side quest focussed than similar titles, like Tainted Grail, but also such a rich, well-realized world that's fun to visit. And started the Nemesis Untold Stories campaign with some friends. We liked it so much I went and picked up all the Free League Alien RPG stuff, including the Fantasy Grounds module, and started putting together a group to run through that as well. SciFi Horror may be my thing.

Avatar checks.

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The loss to Kansas hits different when you remember you're paying these pussies.

Yeah, but Amazon had the 3D version for $140 on a recent sale. Your point stands, it's a pricey experience, however the kids have never asked to play Tainted Grail or Nemesis again and they demanded to play Catan after the first game and the next night. Might have been money well spent after all. I'm for doing whatever to get them excited about spending time together. I'm still working on getting Etherfields to the table a first time, though not with the kids. We, the gaming group, have played Nemesis many times, and everyone digs the hell out of it. Carnomorphs are queued up next.

No.

The in-house luthier said the Custom Shop Masterbuilt SRV with the Ybarra-made overwound modified Texas Specials was one of the nicest, most sonically impressive guitars he's ever played. The Les Paul had a "killer" tone but was a fight to play. The Martin was a fucking 1944 D-28 and every bit the part. For making music he picked the SRV. I still pick the Les Paul because I can't get past the fact it's a primordial Les Paul and I would kill to have something from the top of the family tree.

The Martin was so clean it looked like NOS. It's a single owner guitar that spent most of its life in a closet. The only work done is a replacing of the pegs which developed cracking and a rebracing which was done by Martin. It's the only one on the wall that I played (I only held the Les Paul) and it sounded like angels singing.

This wall has something for everyone, but if you could only pick one, putting aside raw value, which one would you get? ('56 Les Paul, '64 Firebird, '04 Masterbuilt Number One, '44 D-28) Side note, as part of the provenance papers with the Firebird, it belonged to Nikki Sixx (bassist, I know, but it's the guitar most similar to the bass he's most identified with).