If Monopoly is the only thing that comes to mind whenever board games are mentioned, well think again. Apparently moving bits of molded plastic on a piece of cardboard is a big thing in Germany. Wired has the low down on one Klaus Teuber who is widely seen as heading the vanguard in board game designs. A sentiment that I found especially enlightening is one interviewee’s take on the concept of Monopoly as a negative game experience.

“Monopoly has you grinding your opponents into dust. It’s a very negative experience. It’s all about cackling when your opponent lands on your space and you get to take all their money.”

“German-style games, on the other hand, avoid direct conflict. Violence in particular is taboo in Germany’s gaming culture, a holdover from decades of post-World War II soul-searching.“

I have never thought about Monopoly in this way but now can recall the crushing sense of defeat and humiliation looking at the diminishing pile of fake money at my feet.

Exquisite drawings of humanoid musical instruments by one Shawn Feeney. They have to be seen to be believed!

A stage actor was the victim of a twisted murder attempt when his fake knife was switched for the real thing. The audience was most impressed with the ’special effects’ during the final act where the character that the actor was playing, slits his own throat. People only realized that something was amiss when he did not get up at the end of the show. Talk about art imitating life. Read more about it here.

If the food really sucks at an eaterie, would you go up to the counter and tell them at the end of the meal? My sister says that there are people who will do it and she tends to agree with them. She once complained that her food was too salty in a reputable restaurant and got a complimentary dessert for her efforts. Was justice served?

I was at a fast food joint yesterday and was in the process of ordering my coronary-baiting lunch. A man walks up and complained that the food was very different from when he had ordered it the last time. The manager pointed out the ingredients were exactly the same and has been for the longest time.

“It’s not good!” the customer protested.

“Are you sure you ordered the same item?” asked the manager, eyebrow raised.

A puzzled look sauntered across the man’s face which ended in an “Eureka” moment. He looked over to his friend and started explaining to the latter about the mistake he has made and what he should have actually ordered. He left the establishment not once looking back at the manager who was sporting a shit-eating grin. Guess who is eating a crow burger now?

I love the idea! Check it out here.

The guy second from the right is undergoing ‘therapy’ for internet addiction. From a collection of pictures on National Geographic taken by Fritz Hoffmann.

Read this chilling report on how American gun owners are a bunch of happy campers.

This, believe it or not, is the top 3 searches on Yahoo.

It reminds me of the time my pager fell into a squat toilet at my work place and I had to use my bare hands to retrieve it. Not a high point in my life. For the lowdown go here.

“Don’t you wish your girlfriend is hot like me?”
The Pussycat Dolls circa now.

“The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face”
Bob Dylan circa the 60’s.

Time has been unkind to our generation’s artistic faculty. On one hand we have a bunch of scantily clad, anorexic airheads spewing vacuous nonsense and on the other the words of a musical prophet who gave voice to his generation. 40 years separate the 2 and what does it say about our times? Makes me just want to pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep.

Above the screams of children who know no better, the confused chatter of brainwashed adults and fittingly new age muzak, Jim Jones chides and cajoles his flock to drink cyanide-laced grape juice in 1978.

Put this on your iPod if you dare and let the man who convinced close to one thousand human beings to end their lives and those of their children, get into your head. Not for the faint-hearted.