Flyby Weekend
What is it these days with weekends that just zip past without you feeling you’ve had a break, or got to enjoy any of the things on your To Do List?
Oh well, at least it’s under a month until Heritage Day on the 24th, which gives us South Africans a 3-day weekend. Plus, this coming weekend Paul’s parents are away so that means A) Parent-free house parties / get-togethers, and B), more importantly, no ‘Could you come here and help me for a minute’ requests that consume whole hours of the weekend.
Friday
Anyway, the roads in Durban were chaotic on Friday evening with the heavy rain and wind so Paul and I just stayed in and ended up vegging on the couch watching TV.
We caught half of an episode of Invasion, which actually seems pretty grounded for a sci-fi series, and a lame thriller called Paparazzi that deals with a decent mid-western movie star who decided to take revenge against “EVIL” paparazzi (seriously, the “journalists” were practically twirling their long moustaches and wearing capes).
Obviously the film was funded by movie stars in a bid to get some revenge on the tabloids. Starring Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney and Tom Sizemore, the film featured numerous celebrity cameos from the likes of Mel Gibson (ironically, in a therapist's office for anger management) and Chris Rock.
Saturday
Most of Saturday was consumed with preparations for my aunt’s baby shower in the afternoon. We held the event in the staff room of the school where my mother teaches, for the space, as well as easy access to cutlery, crockery, comfy chairs and big urns for tea.
I must say that baby showers are a helluva lot less painful as a “women’s tradition” than kitchen teas (but maybe that’s because I’ve been to less of them). There seems to have been a move these days to make kitchen teas more sophisticated, and eliminate bullshit, forced activities like having to guess presents, and drink lemonade out of a plastic potty.
You can still play games, but make them less embarrassing. We played a pseudo-bingo where you have to make a list of presents the mom-to-be will receive, and tick them off. The first person to tick off their complete list wins a prize.
Anyway, by the end of the afternoon I was stuffed full of pastry, quiche and apple crumble goodness.
Back at Paul’s in the evening we finally played a game of Runebound.
Apart from making the tough decision of which hero to play as, the most exciting part was “accessorizing” at the assorted town markets, buying special weapons, allies and armour to enhance your character’s abilities.
I played as Mad Carthos, a mage who wounds himself to cause damage before combat even begins. Paul played a ranger who packed some serious ranged damage as well as trouped around with sidekick mercenaries.
Granted it was our first game, but it took forever – we went to bed just before 2am. We have however figured out our own variant to make it go faster, and it really is a lot of fun as a stripped down Dungeons and Dragons refreshingly easy to pick up. For example, the only die you roll are special movement die and 2 10-sided die.
Sunday
On Sunday, Paul and I spent a good portion of the day outside painting. It was nice to enjoy the first warm, sunshine of Spring, but after a few hours I was tired of painting rust-proof primer onto the braai/barbecue Paul had bought, and being roped into the same preparation for (surprise, surprise!) the security gate Paul’s father was welding for the farm.
Plus, I was out on the front lawn wearing raggedy, oversize painting clothes that made me look like I’d been living on a deserted island for a year. And I stepped in split primer.
In the late afternoon into the evening we played some more Titan Quest, battling monsters as much as bad, character-killing lag.
Then, later in the evening, we finally got round to watching the first 2 episodes of Rome, essentially back-to-back. It’s got your standard ancient world intrigue, but the makers have spiced up this HBO/BBC co-production with copious amounts of nudity and simulated sex, as well as fascinating, detailed dips into everyday Roman life. It’s great; well worth checking out.
Oh well, at least it’s under a month until Heritage Day on the 24th, which gives us South Africans a 3-day weekend. Plus, this coming weekend Paul’s parents are away so that means A) Parent-free house parties / get-togethers, and B), more importantly, no ‘Could you come here and help me for a minute’ requests that consume whole hours of the weekend.
Friday
Anyway, the roads in Durban were chaotic on Friday evening with the heavy rain and wind so Paul and I just stayed in and ended up vegging on the couch watching TV.
We caught half of an episode of Invasion, which actually seems pretty grounded for a sci-fi series, and a lame thriller called Paparazzi that deals with a decent mid-western movie star who decided to take revenge against “EVIL” paparazzi (seriously, the “journalists” were practically twirling their long moustaches and wearing capes).
Obviously the film was funded by movie stars in a bid to get some revenge on the tabloids. Starring Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney and Tom Sizemore, the film featured numerous celebrity cameos from the likes of Mel Gibson (ironically, in a therapist's office for anger management) and Chris Rock.
Saturday
Most of Saturday was consumed with preparations for my aunt’s baby shower in the afternoon. We held the event in the staff room of the school where my mother teaches, for the space, as well as easy access to cutlery, crockery, comfy chairs and big urns for tea.
I must say that baby showers are a helluva lot less painful as a “women’s tradition” than kitchen teas (but maybe that’s because I’ve been to less of them). There seems to have been a move these days to make kitchen teas more sophisticated, and eliminate bullshit, forced activities like having to guess presents, and drink lemonade out of a plastic potty.
You can still play games, but make them less embarrassing. We played a pseudo-bingo where you have to make a list of presents the mom-to-be will receive, and tick them off. The first person to tick off their complete list wins a prize.
Anyway, by the end of the afternoon I was stuffed full of pastry, quiche and apple crumble goodness.
Back at Paul’s in the evening we finally played a game of Runebound.
Apart from making the tough decision of which hero to play as, the most exciting part was “accessorizing” at the assorted town markets, buying special weapons, allies and armour to enhance your character’s abilities.
I played as Mad Carthos, a mage who wounds himself to cause damage before combat even begins. Paul played a ranger who packed some serious ranged damage as well as trouped around with sidekick mercenaries.
Granted it was our first game, but it took forever – we went to bed just before 2am. We have however figured out our own variant to make it go faster, and it really is a lot of fun as a stripped down Dungeons and Dragons refreshingly easy to pick up. For example, the only die you roll are special movement die and 2 10-sided die.
Sunday
On Sunday, Paul and I spent a good portion of the day outside painting. It was nice to enjoy the first warm, sunshine of Spring, but after a few hours I was tired of painting rust-proof primer onto the braai/barbecue Paul had bought, and being roped into the same preparation for (surprise, surprise!) the security gate Paul’s father was welding for the farm.
Plus, I was out on the front lawn wearing raggedy, oversize painting clothes that made me look like I’d been living on a deserted island for a year. And I stepped in split primer.
In the late afternoon into the evening we played some more Titan Quest, battling monsters as much as bad, character-killing lag.
Then, later in the evening, we finally got round to watching the first 2 episodes of Rome, essentially back-to-back. It’s got your standard ancient world intrigue, but the makers have spiced up this HBO/BBC co-production with copious amounts of nudity and simulated sex, as well as fascinating, detailed dips into everyday Roman life. It’s great; well worth checking out.
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