STORIES, STORIES

Aun Joo, as she is wont to do, sprang on us on Sunday morning and dragged us all out for breakfast, which led to lunch, which led to more people dragged out to go to All Aboard , a gaming community centre, which led to tea, and then dinner.  I managed to force everyone to play BSG ( just like the good old days ) except I totally failed in retrospect. Nobody enjoyed it (except me for the nostalgic rush and my excitement for all things nerd-culture) as I bungled explaining the game since I hadn't played it for about 4 years. All Aboard was exactly the kind of place we needed back in Jeddah - a place where we can throw our money to play games and chit-chat all day without external hassle. Here, you can rent board games (range is US$4 to US$14 per game unlimited time), or bring your own game and rent a table for US$4 the whole day. I could only imagine what this place was like on Tabletop Day.  But that also feels like a lifetime ago. It's been so many years ...

You're a geek. Or you just started becoming one. Or maybe you want to meet smart people.  And you happen to be in Jeddah. Luck be a GeekFest event named Gamma, happening in just 2 weeks. I've blogged about GeekFest before ( HERE ), but here's the Geekifesto (written by the guy who started GeekFest) to better understand what we're on about. To give you a summary, here's what we have on our Facebook Fan Page : So what's a GeekFest?   Jeddah's own community of geeks get together for:   GeekTalks  Presentations or discussions on relevant topics.   GameFest  An area to geek out with gamers and get sucked into the power of the gaming world.  TechnoCases  Showcases by technology companies to share their products with the geeks in a fun and interactive way.  ArtStuff  Creative geeks can display their work and collaborate with others to create new things.  Alongside it is much technology and chit chatting (and no...

Here be our last BSG game (probably) of 2011. It's a little difficult to explain the charm of this board game to civilians non-BSG-players because of the nerdiness that precedes any activity that involves space things and sitting around for hours. While it's true, YES, IT'S TRUE, that there's a Loser factor, most of the 6 hours (on average) that we spend playing this game yields so many LOLs (and usually ABOUT that Loser factor) that it's worth it.  There really is quite nothing like having a group of people get together who share at least one obsession. We don't all share the same interests or personal qualities, but that's what makes the game interesting. The whole point of the game is to work in teams that should ideally have evenly-distributed skills and weaknesses.  Also, I just call our group nerdy because that's what everyone calls it, but I really don't think it's as nerdy as it sounds. I myself am not even smart enough to ...

A bunch of Cylons, humans and civilians got together for Colonial Day / Menelik's birthday. Results: -- The yummy birthday cake courtesy of Khayra (and her mom and aunt ). -- A discussion about pecan. -- Cake stabbing. -- Fun having. -- And LOLs.

Before you read this entry, play this video. -- There must be some way out of here. -- Said the joker to the thief. -- There's too much confusion. -- I can't get no relief. There is always, ALWAYS some kind of drama at a BSG game.  This is my favorite photo-set so far. It depicts the mood of this game.

What do Roslin and Starbuck do when they're not on duty? They play Magic: The Gathering . 

Our last BSG game warrants an original episode all on its own. I failed miserably as a cylon, but I suppose that's pretty canon. There is always that miracle of humans' morale, even at its lowest, to overcome. Here are bullet points. I hate being dealt a "YOU ARE A CYLON" card. I hate seeing Leoben's face declaring this.  I get super distracted during a game because I'm always planning my actions for our NEXT board game. Does that make sense? The amount of cussing and smack talk that occurs at any one game. Highly entertaining. I don't understand how other people can play a civil (read: boring) game. Chit-chat during the game is not limited to BSG references. I promise.  Organizational tactics. As shown below. Courtesy of Ghaidaa . -- It's that time of the year in Jeddah that everyone who went winter shopping has been waiting for. JACKET/HOODIE SEASON. Even when it's not even that cold. -- Ladies and gentlemen,...

I do not know how I survived years of coffee consumption without these two bebis. I got them as a birthday gift from Summer, and I love them to pieces. Makes me feel so Adama, dunno why.

Our (almost) weekly nerdventure yielded one Mamadama with blue nail polish. #BSG

This is what it looks like after a game of BSG (with the Pegasus expansion). My favorite part: sorting out stuffs to the original soundtrack. *adjusts glasses*

The BSG board game is more than JUST a game. It's a brilliant romp of accusations, incompetence, high-charged drama, poker face, betrayal, mud-slinging, paranoia, blatant douchebaggery, and sexual tension. You say "foreveralone", I say "a Thursday well-spent". -- Guacamole adds 10 points to the die roll. -- Khayra in a moment of uncertainty. -- Hakeem in a moment of military might. Or just thinking of his next line, who knows.

All my pictures look like this. That's because all I do is meet up with friends at restaurants that have wide tables to play the Battlestar Galactica board game on. For hours.  I shall not apologize for this. -- Nur 's ring.

As prophesied in the Book of Pythia, a President of the Colonies, one of red hair and whose word remains Science, shall gift the Hesitant One with Portal. Happy birthday, Suhail .

Jeddah is like THE most happening place that the CAG  has moved here. For Lux.

I don't like chairs like this. They're very uncomfortable. Not optimum for slouching and stuffing the face with the potato chips. Nevertheless, they're pretty. As is this telephone. Makes me want a cup of tea and a London accent. " SHELLY GODFREY !!"

Didi brought cigars that one time, for solidarity. 

So I'm a little over-impulsive. So I do things without thinking them through, and I write emails that shouldn't have been sent, and I say things that probably shouldn't be said. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. You end up hurting yourself, yes, but you almost always walk away from it with a little lesson learned, don't ya? Like squash. I've never seen a squash court before in real life, except in a romantic comedy montage where Sandra Bullock's character finds herself falling in love with an unlikely dude. Again. And even then, I don't really see the court, or the sport being played. It's always just the two googly-eyed characters bumping into each other after trying to pick up the ball and their hands accidentally touch and then they somehow end up making out. This is not squash. But because I have committed to this gym with my blood, sweat and money, and because Didi INSISTED we could TOTALLY play squash without prior training or experien...

I have a new fitness/weight loss goal. I want to look healthy and slim so that when I get on one of those bikes at the gym with the backrest, eating a bag of chips while pedaling at 10 pedals/minute and watching TV, it will look REALLY FUNNY. This goal shall be named "Lulz". Speaking of gym, I saw Sera today, whose house we desecrated for hours one fine weekend with our BSG board game while she was away gallivanting in India. [That, my friends, is how you segue. (You know, coz Sera and I always talk about the gym and working out, and her hubby Joey is my BSG buddy, and I am about to post pictures from that day. It's like the 6 degrees of separation. In writing. Husssaahhh!)]  Rayan trolled the game. And Didi photobombed.  This Guy. Is such an Adama .  The thing about being my friend is that you are bound to turn up on my blog. It's written in that fine, fine print you didn't read or take seriously, found at the bottom of that paper you didn't know you ...

Last week (or was it two weeks ago?), the Pegasus Expansion for the BSG board game arrived. But we didn't get to play it until tonight. King Abdullah, al7amdulillah 3la salamah, we played for you today. (How did you guys spend your nice little impromptu holiday?) Anyhoo, the game is BEYOND AWESOME. It's like 2 or 3 layers of betrayal and suspicion put together, where cylons can betray other cylons. Click here  to watch the trailer for the BSG game. The unboxing. Appropriately with a "razor". This photo taken by Souma . And these photos, too, since I was too busy being excited about the new game to take pictures. That's me and... Helena Cain. Also known as me. Notice the crazy eyes. Although it's not fun to play Cain when Adama isn't one of the other characters. Oops, spoiler alert. (Because you care, y3ni.) Photo taken by Ghaida'a . I did take one photo that night. This one.  So we are starting a legit community. Does anyone know anyone in...