My family and I are reading this brilliant book series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Often the author's characters say insightful things. Here's one I thought was particularly good.
"I don't think real friends are jealous" - Primrose the Pygmie Owl (book 5 The Shattering)
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Friday, January 5, 2007
What is KHET?
My older son received a gift from my parents named Khet. It came in an interesting and technologically appropriate packaging. Upon closer investigation, we discovered it was a game and better yet a LASER game. How cool is that a game that uses lasers, with no running.
I have come to call it laser chess, as it is a addictive strategy game with obelisks, pyrimids, djeds, and a pharoh. Similar to chess, the goal of the game is to capture the opponents pharoh. In truth the similarities are more in the feel of the game than the actual playing of it. The rules are much simpler, although much like chess the difficulty is in what you do with the rules.
After each move in the game, the player who moved his piece fires his laser. This is where it gets interesting. The laser bounces off of the face of the certain pieces. If at the end of its path if strikes a piece, that piece is lost. This is true regardless of who's piece is struck. If the pharoh is struck, the game is over. This means that you can kill your own piece and even lose the game on your turn. Believe me, this can and does happen!
I highly recommend this game for any family looking for a change-up from chess or checkers or as an introduction to strategy games. Kids will love the lasers and how the different pieces cause the laser to bend through the game. It is a satisfying feeling when you begin to guess correctly where the laser will go after your move, and quite funny when it takes an unexpected turn. Have fun.
I have come to call it laser chess, as it is a addictive strategy game with obelisks, pyrimids, djeds, and a pharoh. Similar to chess, the goal of the game is to capture the opponents pharoh. In truth the similarities are more in the feel of the game than the actual playing of it. The rules are much simpler, although much like chess the difficulty is in what you do with the rules.
After each move in the game, the player who moved his piece fires his laser. This is where it gets interesting. The laser bounces off of the face of the certain pieces. If at the end of its path if strikes a piece, that piece is lost. This is true regardless of who's piece is struck. If the pharoh is struck, the game is over. This means that you can kill your own piece and even lose the game on your turn. Believe me, this can and does happen!
I highly recommend this game for any family looking for a change-up from chess or checkers or as an introduction to strategy games. Kids will love the lasers and how the different pieces cause the laser to bend through the game. It is a satisfying feeling when you begin to guess correctly where the laser will go after your move, and quite funny when it takes an unexpected turn. Have fun.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Ultramarathon Man...Passion
I recently read Dean Karnazes' book about his start and life as an ultra marathon runner. I finished the book in a couple days, which is quick for me and shows this was a real page turner. I enjoyed the personal look at his life and the detailed descriptions of some crucial moments or turning points in his life.
My first thought after reading it (and even during the read) was that I should become a ultra marathoner too. His writing was pretty good, but it was the motivational message that caught my attention. After a couple days of thinking on his story and letting the message settle in a bit, I realized that the message was intended to inspire each of us to determine or find our passion and go after it like Dean has rather than going after his passion. Not that I won't become an ultramarathoner, but I should make sure that my heart is in it.
Much like Dean, I have enjoyed a good life. My faith and family and job give me joy and satisfaction, but I haven't done what I was put here for. I haven't reached my potential. I haven't found something to be passionate about, or else I just haven't been passionate about what I've done.
I did married a very passionate woman. Passion was what attracted me to her and what has inspired me to do much of what I have done, but I cannot claim her passion as my own, and she cannot apply her passion to my life. No... passion is something you have to find for yourself. Passion is visible and attractive, but it doesn't come without cost. Maybe to have passion you have to be willing to make sacrifices, to trade something, to work harder. It appears that Dean took that approach, and it clearly worked for him.
I guess that's what I saw in Dean's book. It's a story about passion. He does a wonderful job describing his passion and sharing it with us.
As this is a new year, I'll make it a goal or resolution of mine to become a person of passion. I will start by finding something I enjoy, or that I feel is important, and diving into it. I'll let you know what comes up.
I highly recommend reading Ultramarathon Man. Hopefully it will inspire you as well. Thanks Dean for the inspiration.
My first thought after reading it (and even during the read) was that I should become a ultra marathoner too. His writing was pretty good, but it was the motivational message that caught my attention. After a couple days of thinking on his story and letting the message settle in a bit, I realized that the message was intended to inspire each of us to determine or find our passion and go after it like Dean has rather than going after his passion. Not that I won't become an ultramarathoner, but I should make sure that my heart is in it.
Much like Dean, I have enjoyed a good life. My faith and family and job give me joy and satisfaction, but I haven't done what I was put here for. I haven't reached my potential. I haven't found something to be passionate about, or else I just haven't been passionate about what I've done.
I did married a very passionate woman. Passion was what attracted me to her and what has inspired me to do much of what I have done, but I cannot claim her passion as my own, and she cannot apply her passion to my life. No... passion is something you have to find for yourself. Passion is visible and attractive, but it doesn't come without cost. Maybe to have passion you have to be willing to make sacrifices, to trade something, to work harder. It appears that Dean took that approach, and it clearly worked for him.
I guess that's what I saw in Dean's book. It's a story about passion. He does a wonderful job describing his passion and sharing it with us.
As this is a new year, I'll make it a goal or resolution of mine to become a person of passion. I will start by finding something I enjoy, or that I feel is important, and diving into it. I'll let you know what comes up.
I highly recommend reading Ultramarathon Man. Hopefully it will inspire you as well. Thanks Dean for the inspiration.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Star Wars Lego Does Well with Slave 1
For me the value in any toy is a combination of the wow-factor and the last-factor. The wow-factor is how thrilled the child is with the item from the moment he sees it. The last-factor is how long and how often they play with it.
WOW!
The Star Wars Lego Slave 1 was a perfect fit for the WOW factor, as he has wanted it for sometime now. Like almost every boy he loves legos and Star Wars. When you put the two together it is irresistable. I think I have to attribute his particular interest in this Star Wars lego (there are many) to playing his Star Wars lego video games. I guess lego does a great job marketing their brick and mortar toys in their virtual versions of the same.
In addition to the ship, the kit also comes with 4 characters. It not includes Boba Fett, but also a Bespin guard, Dengar, and IG-88. I don't understand why, but my kids love these characters sometimes more than the ships. So, this was a big plus. I guess now that they get to play the video game as each of these characters, there is a strong attraction to physically collecting and playing with each of the characters as well. To be honest, I do know who Boba Fett is, but have no idea who these others are. I was especially baffled by I-G-8-8. The first time my son shotgunned that at me I blinked a few times. I replied oooh, I-8-8-8-8, and he just laughed. I truely had no idea what he had just said. Of course, my ignorance of the subject only makes the toy that much more enjoyable.
Basically, this toy has plenty of wow-factor for any Star Wars Lego lover.
How Much Last...?
We were visiting family far from home, but of course he wanted to pull out all 537 pieces and build it as soon as possible. I expected it to take him several hours to put this together, which is one measure of last-factor, and I wasn't disappointed. He needed a little help here and there, but mostly just for some grown up muscle. At one point I had to pull apart something he had put together wrong and it was pretty tough. I glanced down at him with an exasperated look and he chomped the side of his teeth, indicating how he would normally remove the offending piece.
Once he got the toy together and fully functional, I was really impressed. It had several hidden doors with guns and missles and bombs behind them. The bombs really drop, and a missle that really fires, but the others are back to good old imagination. Of course after a few weeks of playing, I'm sure we won't be able to find the bombs and missle, and will be back to imagining all the interaction. Along with all the weapons, the pilot seat rotates with the ship to keep the pilot stablized inside. I believe this is how the ship works in the movies, so it was a nice touch.
Other:
My primary complaint/recommendation is regarding the directions. Everytime I came to help it seemed that something was amiss with the directions. I was having a hard time seeing what was supposed to occur from one step to the next. Then I realized that in these directions, they only showed how the part looked at the end of each step. Normally, there are parts lists for each step and some friendly shadowing to show where the parts go. These instructions were missing all of these clues, and so we were left playing the "what's different between these pictures?" game. Of course this just added to the challenge a bit, and therefore to the last-factor.
Since he just got the toy on Christmas, I haven't determined if this toy will make the list of regularly played with toys or not, but I'll update my blog later with those details. This Lego can be purchased at Target.com for about $50, which is significantly cheaper than other online locations.
WOW!
The Star Wars Lego Slave 1 was a perfect fit for the WOW factor, as he has wanted it for sometime now. Like almost every boy he loves legos and Star Wars. When you put the two together it is irresistable. I think I have to attribute his particular interest in this Star Wars lego (there are many) to playing his Star Wars lego video games. I guess lego does a great job marketing their brick and mortar toys in their virtual versions of the same.
In addition to the ship, the kit also comes with 4 characters. It not includes Boba Fett, but also a Bespin guard, Dengar, and IG-88. I don't understand why, but my kids love these characters sometimes more than the ships. So, this was a big plus. I guess now that they get to play the video game as each of these characters, there is a strong attraction to physically collecting and playing with each of the characters as well. To be honest, I do know who Boba Fett is, but have no idea who these others are. I was especially baffled by I-G-8-8. The first time my son shotgunned that at me I blinked a few times. I replied oooh, I-8-8-8-8, and he just laughed. I truely had no idea what he had just said. Of course, my ignorance of the subject only makes the toy that much more enjoyable.
Basically, this toy has plenty of wow-factor for any Star Wars Lego lover.
How Much Last...?
We were visiting family far from home, but of course he wanted to pull out all 537 pieces and build it as soon as possible. I expected it to take him several hours to put this together, which is one measure of last-factor, and I wasn't disappointed. He needed a little help here and there, but mostly just for some grown up muscle. At one point I had to pull apart something he had put together wrong and it was pretty tough. I glanced down at him with an exasperated look and he chomped the side of his teeth, indicating how he would normally remove the offending piece.
Once he got the toy together and fully functional, I was really impressed. It had several hidden doors with guns and missles and bombs behind them. The bombs really drop, and a missle that really fires, but the others are back to good old imagination. Of course after a few weeks of playing, I'm sure we won't be able to find the bombs and missle, and will be back to imagining all the interaction. Along with all the weapons, the pilot seat rotates with the ship to keep the pilot stablized inside. I believe this is how the ship works in the movies, so it was a nice touch.
Other:
My primary complaint/recommendation is regarding the directions. Everytime I came to help it seemed that something was amiss with the directions. I was having a hard time seeing what was supposed to occur from one step to the next. Then I realized that in these directions, they only showed how the part looked at the end of each step. Normally, there are parts lists for each step and some friendly shadowing to show where the parts go. These instructions were missing all of these clues, and so we were left playing the "what's different between these pictures?" game. Of course this just added to the challenge a bit, and therefore to the last-factor.
Since he just got the toy on Christmas, I haven't determined if this toy will make the list of regularly played with toys or not, but I'll update my blog later with those details. This Lego can be purchased at Target.com for about $50, which is significantly cheaper than other online locations.
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