It’s late, but not TOO late. It’s still Monday and therefore still time to put up a short blog post.

I went to a Star Wars Destiny tournament yesterday. There were 27 of us playing. I brought three decks with me. One I thought might have some potential, one that was more quirky and the other that was just there. Ultimately, I decided that rather than go for the unlikely goal of trying to win out, I’d go the quirky route. My deck teamed up Ezra, Yoda and Jar Jar Binks. It’s a mill deck, designed to empty the opponent’s deck quickly. I actually won one round, which was a lot better than I expected. One round I got destroyed. The other rounds were surprisingly competitive. I got my opponents down to just the cards in hand. The problem with the deck is that it didn’t have enough hand removal to get rid of those cards in time. Still, I was pleased with the performance.

In keeping with Star Wars news, last Wednesday was the day that I set to play the role-playing game. The day didn’t start out well with two people writing that they couldn’t make it. One told me that he would be late if he could make it at all. Nobody showed up at the scheduled time so I wrote to him to tell him not to make his way out as it wasn’t going to happen. Disappointing to be sure. I plan to give it one more try. There was potential there. I really want to make it work, but I also don’t want to keep showing up for nothing.

I got word that the Big Trouble In Little China game I ordered last July should be coming in soon. The long wait is finally over. I look forward to giving it a try.

That’s all for this week. Have a good seven and we’ll do this all again next Monday. Carja V.

The blog is being written,
Soon it will be read.
Who knows what thoughts
Will go through my head?

Why write in verse?
I really do not know.
But today it would seem
The way words want to flow.

The weekend draws to a close,
Three days have passed,
I sure hope the work week
Will go by as fast.

We sat by the campfire
on Saturday night,
After the rain, we were warmed
By the flames burning bright.

On Sunday I drew
The strips for the week,
My software was buggy
My ire did it it pique.

The Amello set
Of mash-ups is drawn
The colouring remains,
Before I can move on.

If all goes to plan,
Soon I will play,
Star Wars the RPG
At Les Dés Truqués.

I asked if there was interest
And it turns out there is.
Will anybody show up?
The question that remains ’tis.

That was a tough one.
And kind of a cop out.
Rhyming is with ’tis
Is nothing to be proud ’bout.

I think it’s a sign,
When the word play gets so bleak,
To say have a good seven folks,
We’ll do this again next week.

Greetings Programs! Time to blog.

On Thursday something occurred that I never thought I’d get to witness in my lifetime. The Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup. I’ve been a Caps fan since the late eighties. I wasn’t into hockey but my friend Gilles was a Caps fan. That was good enough for me. They’ve been my team ever since. And they started the year I was born. That’s like an omen or something, right? Having a team means you follow the sport a little more closely. I’ve never been HUGE into hockey but I’d always at least check out how the Caps were doing. And generally speaking they weren’t doing very well. There have been ups and downs. They made the Finals back in 2008 only to get swept by the Detroit Red Wings. Other than that it’s often been the same story, they’d make the playoffs only to get bounced in the first or second round.

The Caps’ fortunes changed when they drafted Alexander Ovechkin in 2004. He’s a superstar player. Most of today’s Caps fans are fans because of Ovechkin. He’s a passionate player and a prolific scorer. And he got the reputation of a superstar who couldn’t win the big one as the Caps kept their losing ways alive, made worse because they were clinching division, conference and league regular season titles. Like in 2010 when they lost to the 8th seed Montreal Canadiens. Living in Quebec, that was a particularly hard pill to swallow as all my Habs-fan friends took a special joy in rubbing the loss in my face.

That all changed on June 7, 2018. Their first Cup. Sure, it’s nowhere close to Montreal’s tally of 24. But it’s sweet all the same. I wore my Caps shirt and jersey with pride over the weekend. I always temper my expectations of the Caps. When someone says this might be their year, I’ll say “I hope so!” never, “For sure!” To be honest, until the end of game 4 of the Finals, I still didn’t think it was going to happen. Even though they’d been down 0-2 to the Blue Jackets in the first round only to win in six. Even though they’d finally succeeded in downing the Penguins. Even though they recovered from letting a 2-0 lead slip and closed out the Lightning with back-to-back shutouts in games 6 and 7. Vegas looked unbeatable going in. The Golden Knights won a wild one to start the series. But the Caps fought their way to a game 2 win. They held off a end-of-game flurry to win game 3. They were dominant in game 4. And they came from behind to win it all in game 5. I only caught the last two minutes of that last game. I watched stretches of the last two games against Tampa Bay and games 3 and 4 against Vegas. Even though they’re my team, I’m not a big enough hockey fan to watch an entire playoff run. But at least I caught the ending. Woo boy! What a feeling. Seeing Ovie lift the Cup in the air, the joy on his face to have finally won the big one. Knowing that Lars Eller, one of my favorite unsung players, scored the winning goal. It was good.

So, the Armello mash-ups are going to get preempted this week. You may be able to guess the flashback that’s going to go up on Friday. If not, then you’ll just have to check in on Friday to see.

Until then, have a good seven and we’ll see if we can’t do something similar next Monday. Carja V.