Meanwhile...

Finally caught the Serenity movie the other day, when Donald and I went to see this much-awaited Hollywood space opera. Long story short: I just loved it! Having been a fan of Buffy, and having seen a couple of episodes of the Firefly TV series, I had high expectations for this latest piece of work from Joss Whedon, and boy I wasn't disappointed!

Right from the outset we were plunged into a world of paranoid doublethink and murderous darkness, making me feel that we weren't in the familiar territory of the Hollywood blockbuster. This was kept up throughout the movie, thanks to the plot, and some great dialogue and really funny lines.

Sure, there were some real cliches in this film, and the homages to Star Wars and to Bladerunner was obvious, but so what? I came out of watching Serenity having been entertained, with my intelligence stimulated, and having had my heartstrings plucked. This is an all too rare experience for me these days. Serenity might well be the best space opera movie since Star Wars.

Ros joined Donald and I after the movie and we got in a game of Settlers. Ros' normal talents failed her in this game, leaving Donald and I to fight it out for victory. In the end I won thanks largely to a rash of quick city-building. This win was unexpected because Donald looked to have by far and away the best resource base, and he certainly got off to a good start with rapid early expansion.

Finally for now: I will be attending DiceConEast 2005 in Edinburgh on Sunday 20th November. Dicecon
http://www.dicecon.com/
is run by the Scottish Boardgames Association, and this is the 2nd Edinburgh event. I will be GM'ing a Memoir'44 tournament on the day, and hoping to get a chance to play some Advanced Squad Leader, and maybe even some Up Front. If anyone reading this is in the vicinity on the day, I heartily recommend this event: it's just boardgames, boardgames, boardgames all the way!