Out with the old king...

Tried two new games tonight, which I'd purchased based only on sales rankings and the recommendations of the good folks at BoardGameGeek. The first, Mü & More, consists of an unusual deck of cards (12 each in 5 suits) and rules for five different games. One is like hearts, one is like pitch, one is like speed, one is like go fish, and one (the titular Mü) defies description. Nearly all of them are more complex then they seem at first, but they also tend to be mercifully quick. Not a bad value for $10 if I do say so myself.

The other game we tried, Acquire, is apparently a classic that dates back to the '60s, but is still in print and still played in tournaments. None of us had ever heard of it or played it before, though. You place tiles on a city-like grid, causing clusters of tiles ("corporations") to form and eventually merge, netting you shareholder bonuses and capital gains. Pretty interesting stuff, though I don't think I quite have the strategy down yet. As if I ever do...

Ribfest starts tomorrow! Barbecue is awesome, and a choice of a half-dozen vendors is even more awesome.

Also met Tracy's long-mysterious boyfriend, Eric, over dinner at Lazlo's tonight. Seemed like a pretty nice fellow, a film studies major, maybe a bit on the quiet side. But there's one lesson I've learned over the years, often and well: the ones who seem quiet, very rarely actually are. In fact, they often have the most interesting things to say. You just need to figure out how to get them talking.