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Edmund Charles Davis-Quinn

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Dominion

Deck Building

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Lenny likes to help me play Hearthstone.

I enjoy deck building games.

Was looking at Magic cards today and planning to go to do some gaming in Milford at Card Carrier Games by the KMart tomorrow.

Thinking of getting a bunch of commons. I even gave money for someone to do a Spanish class through GoFundMe and she is going to get me some cards and help me build decks. Wicked!

Hearthstone like Magic allows you to build decks. It has a cool design interesting cards, 9 different classes and it’s free which is nice. Although there are temptations to get new adventures and stuff. I was actually up a bit too late tonight because I had 5 of the 7 wins required to get 5 packs. Usually packs are much harder to get. Basically you have quests.

And me and Lanna’s favorite game which we played last night is Dominion. Where you also build decks. Everyone starting with 7 money cards, 3 land cards and then drawing 5 cards playing an action and a buy and discarding. Great quick gameplay.

Magic: The Gathering games can also be fast depending on the deck. I do like Magic but it can get out of control fast there is a reason they call it five color crack. It is both great and terrible by being unlimited. It also has a lot of cards that really often aren’t worth much, both in cost and value. I do enjoy MTG and especially like deckbuilding, but it can get annoying rather fast. People take it all too seriously.

So did some deckbuilding with Hearthstone today which is much easier on the computer than the phone, much, much easier. And I am looking forward to deck building tomorrow. And bringing Splendor to get some games on too.

There is something very fun and making things. Especially in geeky ways.

Geek hard y’all!

Game on!

Dominion Adventures

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One of the Christmas presents I was really happy to get was the newest Dominion set, Dominion: Adventures.

We first looked at it a few weeks ago, and it made our brain hurt so we played a different set.

But we have played 5 games this week, 2 on Monday and 3 today. And I am 5-0 so far vs. Lanna, but I don’t think that will continue.

It’s a fun game but the new rules take getting used to.

I also think they could have used a editor for clarity.

It is a German game so that could be part of it.

I would definitely recommend getting the original Dominion first. We have been hooked for 8 years or so since I went to the great Boskone Science Fiction in Boston which is this weekend.

And it’s full of writers and geeks and it’s a mellow time at the Westin Waterfront. So give it a try.

And if you like games or like Magic: The Gathering give Dominion a try. It has deck building like Magic: TG but everyone starts with 7 Money card and 3 Victory cards and builds their deck from it.

The original Dominion is around $30 on Amazon or $45-50 at other retailers so give it a try.

Original Dominion *****, Adventures ***1/2, Seaside *****, Intrigue ***1/2, Dark Ages ****, Hinterlands ***, Alchemy **1/2, I can’t even think how I would rate all the sets right now. But it is awesome.

And I bet I have blogged before about it. You can even play online if you want to try it before you buy it. Although I do need to get my Dominion Online account figured out, I can’t seem to log in to all the games I purchased.

Play on!

I Love Beer

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Exhausted.

It’s been an odd few days here.

Dad is doing better today.

Glad Shangy’s is nearby where I can get good case beer that I can’t find in Maine.

Yesterday I got a case of Flying Fish Variety Pack. All quite nice but not super amazing.

Today I got a case from my favorite brewery right now (which of course isn’t available in Maine) Bell’s Brewery out of Michigan.

So far I have had the Amber, Kalamazoo Stout and Best Brown and all are delicious.

The best of the Flying Fish case easily is the Belgian Abbey Dubbel. That’s pretty yummy.

Beer makes me happy. It’s good that I’m here but it’s hard.

Cleaning up my dad is unfun. Changing a diaper is unfun. Dealing with his demands sometimes delusional, and sometimes hilarious isn’t really fun.

Beer is awesome.

As is my iTunes and Dominion Online.

And thank you for your support.

edmund

Beer > Football

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I have been a sports fan for a long time. At least since I was 9 years old and the Phillies went to the World Series in 1983 and lost to Rick Dempsey’s great series with the Baltimore Orioles.

It’s something guys talk about in school. I got into both pro and college sports, although central New Jersey where I grew up is like New England pro sports country.

I always looked forward to the NCAA tournament, loved college football Saturdays and NFL Sundays, loved hearing Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn (both in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ashburn for his great hitting too) do Philadelphia Phillies games (and yes that made me spoiled.)

But, recently I simply don’t care about sports as much.

Last year I even had the NFL Redzone as an extra on DISH for a couple months. And that is ADD football to go to the redzone in every NFL game, sometimes going back and forth in multiple games at once.

But, late September this year I dropped the DISH. We have it on pause for $5, so we get preview channels and the DVR, but we really haven’t missed it.

I admit I miss watching PTI (Pardon the Interruption) on ESPN that was last real connection about what is going on in sports world, and I do like watching NCAA games and may have them as background now while I play Dominion: Online (yep still addicted). Honestly though I prefer listening to podcasts. It’s hard to listen to podcasts and web surf for me. Reading text and hearing text gets confusing to my brain. But it’s a good way to hear a good story.

So last night I was at a friend’s house to watch football and drink some beer. The AFC championship game Patriots vs. Ravens. I literally didn’t even know who was playing the NFL game, I thought it was the Niners but forgot the Falcons were there. I enjoyed watching the game, my friend is a loud fan, but frankly preferred drinking beer and hanging out.

I love beer. And I am going to keep talking about it on the blog, here is a collection of beer posts.

Right now having a delicious Bell’s Two Hearted Ale IPA, great balance and delicious beer. (90/A-) Last night I had some yummy dark czech lager that I should have checked into because I would get it again that was wonderfully drinkable. (88/B+) And had some Okacim (Poland) O.K. beer, that was just that. (78/C). I also had a monster beer the Founders Bolt Cutter 15th Anniversary Ale. It’s a monster at 15% alcohol by volume and frankly the alcohol showed and it was very, very heavy. Possible it will be better from aging, but like many costy beers I usually don’t see how it’s worth it. (85/B). And if you are curious I am on Untappd and like to check in.

So, I will drink beer all year, and as far as football goes I enjoy it but no longer need to go out of my way for it. But, beer truly is a gift of the gods and proof that God wants us to be happy. But, I guess Ben Franklin really said that about wine. For all spirited people it’s true, although too much spirit may soothe the soul in the evening, and brings horrors in the morning.

Cheers!

Edmund

Dominion Online and Podcasts Perfect Together

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So have been tired this week.

Slept a lot yesterday.

Needed to do 3 things today. Drive to storage to drop some things off. Do the laundry. And get Frontline for the cats.

I got the Frontline but was totally exhausted and punted the laundry until Sunday and delayed doing the storage stuff. And per ounce, Frontline has to be one of the most expensive consumer products ever made.

So I slept a lot, watched a Friday Night Lights, and 2 Arrested Developments on the Amazon Prime.

But, the highlight of my day was Dominion, two games with Lanna Lee, both just the new set Dominion: Dark Ages. A lot of fun on both.

And I played quite a few games of Dominion Online on the computer. I really enjoy it, although it is awfully addicting, as I mentioned in yesterday’s blogpost. And really enjoyed listening to all sorts of different podcasts today.

The podcast that made me smile most today that I heard was the new Lounging with LannaLee at the celebration of the first night of gay marriage being legal in Portland, Maine. It’s just joyous, and one of her best shows. Lanna is an excellent podcaster and deserved the title of my best podcast of 2012.

So if you are curious give Dominion online a try. And most definitely hear Lanna’s new podcast.

edmund

Dominion Online

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Feel like I should talk about my year goal today, 2013: A Year of Acceptance, but not in the headspace to be deep.

So going to talk about what I actually did today, nap and play Dominion Online.

If you aren’t familiar with Dominion, the basic version (which is free) starts with 3 victory point called estates worth 1 victory point each, and 7 coppers, money cards worth 1 money unit. You draw 5 cards every turn, play an action (there are 25 action cards in basic Dominion and you play 10 per game), and have a buy. So for instance in an initial turn you could have 2 Estates and 3 coppers and buy a silver (a 2 money card) for 3 monetary units. You then discard all cards and draw 5 new cards. Game turns are often very quick. The game ends when you empty 3 sets of the 6 Victory Point Province cards that cost 8 monetary units. Game play is fast 30-60 minutes for the paper version and a little less online. Here are the basic Dominion rules.

It me and Lanna’s favorite board/card game easily and we own every set. So when I got Dominion: Dark Ages (the newest set) for Christmas, there was a promo card for the online version of the game. I played that night at the hotel and have been playing since. The game play is very good, although it’s much happier if you upgrade to the new Beta version of Google Chrome, and can be buggy in old versions.

I do have some issue with people who take to long between game turns and people that quit games, which does end the game, but it’s really Dominion. I have been playing Fortunes of War, which is a very similar game on my Android for a while (it’s not on iPhone), and liked it but very happy to see Dominion on the computer.

Although I did already pay $10 to get the Seaside and Corncopia Expansions, and plan to spend another $20-$30 to get all the rest of the sets. So it goes.

I really enjoy it, but do fear I am spending too much time on the game. It’s a lot of fun and very well done by Goko.