Category Archives: Board Games

Noise of the Weird

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Nathan

Two movies, several SPOILERS. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – I was honestly a little nervous to watch this because I thought it might not be very good. I mean, I knew it was a parody biopic that mocked the … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Games, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Music, Relationships, Television, VoVat Goes to the Movies, Weird Al Yankovic | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Nathan

My Oz reading recently has been a bit slow, both because I’ve had other things to read and because I was a little embarrassed to reread my own “Prince Pompadore in Oz.” I did like it, but I didn’t want to read … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Board Games, Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Games, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Crafts and Cons

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Nathan

As I said last week, I’ve already written about the 2003 Oziana across two posts back when it was new, and I still agree with what I wrote. I didn’t go into much detail, though, so I’ll examine it a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Board Games, Characters, Dick Martin, Games, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Marcus Mebes, Melody Grandy, Music, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

It’s a Celtic Thing

Posted on August 27, 2022 by Nathan

I recently finished reading the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh mythological prose, translated by Lady Charlotte Guest in the nineteenth century. I understand there have been better English translations since then, but this is what I could easily find online, … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Arthurian Legend, Board Games, British, Celtic, Characters, Christianity, Games, History, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Magic Items, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Relationships, Religion, Roman Empire, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Welsh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Threadneedle, Frost, Brown, and Smith, Limited

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Nathan

The 1987 Oziana contains four stories, one much shorter than the others, all of which are of the sort that complement the main series. The front cover shows Melody Grandy’s illustration of Robin Olderman’s idea for the Quadling flag. A note … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Board Games, Characters, Dice, Dick Martin, Eric Shanower, Fred Otto, Games, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Maps, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Pachisi, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things Lived On

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Nathan

I wrote about Slimes in the Dragon Quest series eleven years ago, and mentioned the fact that they were inspired by Creeping Cruds from Wizardry, but Akira Toriyama drew them as cute. There was also a mention of Slimes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Cartoons, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Focus on the Foes, Food, Games, Gender, Japanese, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pandering to Pandavas

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Nathan

I’d been interested in the story of the Mahabharata, even more so since reading the Aru Shah books, in which the Pandavas are reincarnated as teenage girls. So I checked out an abridged edition translated by William Buck. While much … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Book Reviews, Dice, Dragon Quest, Families, Games, Hinduism, History, India, Magic, Mythology, Pachisi, Philosophy, Poetry, Prejudice, Relationships, Religion, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When I Get to the Bottom, I Go Back to the Top of the Slide

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Nathan

I recently saw an update from Amanda Palmer where she mentioned playing Snakes and Ladders with her son, apparently what you do when your husband leaves you in the middle of a pandemic, or something. But what I actually wanted … Continue reading →

Posted in Amanda Palmer, Animals, Board Games, Games, Hinduism, History, India, Islam, Jainism, Music, Pachisi, Philosophy, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Zugzwang Got Me in a Way

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Nathan

Dragon Quest V is sort of a sequel to Dragon Quest IV, which sounds painfully obvious, but really isn’t. The numbers simply refer to release order, not the order in which the games take place; and many of them aren’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Chess, Comics, Dragon Quest, Families, Games, Humor, Language, Magic, Maps, Monsters, Names, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Guess You’ll Never Grow a Clue

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Nathan

Clue – We saw this 1985 film at the Alamo Draft House on Tuesday. I don’t think I’d previously seen it all the way through, but I do remember seeing most of it. It had been a box office flop, … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Games, Humor, VoVat Goes to the Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments