The TAGIE Nominees

The nominations for the inaugural Toy and Game Inventor Awards (the TAGIES, because they’re part of the Toy and Game Inventors Expo) came out on October 23. You can read all about them on Richard Gottlieb’s blog at Playthings.com.

Longtime tabletop games fans should recognize at least two of the names on the list: my friend Richard Borg and Curt Covert of Smirk & Dagger Games. Congratulations to them both, as well as all the other nominees, and good luck to them in the final round. I’ll be there at the awards banquet in Chicago on November 21 to cheer them on!

Project Donut Revealed

My friends Jared Sorenson and Luke Crane have finally announced FreeMarket, the new game they’ve been working on for the past year or more. Everything I’ve heard about it sounds fantastic, and I cannot wait to see–and play–the final game.

President Obama

Those words are music to my ears.

Thanks to everyone out there who got out and voted, no matter which way your vote was cast. Democracy works best when we all pay attention and pitch in.

Voted

I woke up, got the kids to school, then drove out to my friendly polling place in the Town of Turtle to vote. (I live on a split lot that’s part in Beloit and part in Turtle, but my bedroom in in Turtle, so that’s where I vote.) The line was short, and I got through in under five minutes.

Afterward, I hustled down to the Democratic HQ in downtown Beloit and signed up to knock on doors to help get out the vote. I polished off one bit of turf, then went to our one and only Starbucks in the area for my free cup of “I Voted!” coffee. I’m drinking that right now as my Robomower takes care of my lawn and my Roomba and Scooba charge up for their inaugural voyages tonight. (I love the future!)

Once I pick up the kids from their half-day of school today and feed them lunch, I’ll wait for my wife to finish her slightly longer half-day at work. Then I’ll hand off the kids and head back out to help.

With luck, I’ll be at the Democratic event at Denali’s in downtown Beloit tonight, watching the results come in. (Or I’ll be home putting my kids to bed.) Either way, here’s hoping it’s a victory party.

Go Vote

Tomorrow’s the big day. If you can vote, please get out there and not only exercise your right but do your duty and enjoy your privilege. The last two presidential elections in the US have shown us that even a small number of votes can make a historical difference.

I’m taking the day off tomorrow to volunteer at the Democratic Party HQ in downtown Beloit. Before I do that, though, I’ll hit my local polling place and cast my ballot. Whether you’re trying to cancel me out or back me up, I encourage you to do the same.

Vote.

Ninjalicious

On a lighter note, my friend Allen Varney points me to a new site that he and some of his former compatriots in the development of the latest edition of Paranoia concocted: Ninjalistics.com. If you’re looking for an amoral way to get ahead in your Dilbertesque office environment, Ninjalistics has the solution for you.

It’s dark, funny, and–given the recent turmoil on Wall Street–makes for an understandable flavor of vicarious wish fulfillment. But it drips with acidic humor. Check it out.

Good-Bye, Greg

On Monday, my friend Greg Joos died. Greg was married to Brooke (Henderson) Joos, a childhood friend I’ve known since I was two years old, and he left behind her and four children: two now-adults from a previous marriage and two sweethearts that play and go to school with my own kids.

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