Ten days since the last general post. Oops. Things have been busy.

“X-Men: Apocalypse” is yet another X-Men movie, and is pretty much of a piece with the others. It had some great character moments, some pretty good effects, a lot of stupidity, and a really boring villain. I have come to the conclusion that I significantly prefer “save the ranch” plots to “save the world” plots, and this one was definitely of the latter sort. Kind of. The villain was eventually beaten, but the collateral damage was in the billions.

“Alice Through the Looking Glass” is amusing and fun, and even further from Carroll than its predecessor, which had little other than some visuals and character names. Mia Wasikowska can still do wrong, Johnny Depp phones in his part, and Sacha Baron Cohen is almost, but not quite, not toxic.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” is first rate Turtles. That is saying something, considering that it draws much of its background from my least favorite permutation of the Turtles Universe. There is a LOT of silliness, but also a lot of heart, and a cameo from creator Kevin Eastman as the pizza delivery guy.

“Me Without You” is a very well done tear-jerker romance. It also confronts the legitimacy of righteous suicide without actually presenting any of the arguments on either side.

I’ve done a lot of driving this week; two trips to the south side, and three to Lake Geneva. The first trip south was for the monthly poder game; a slightly late start and heavy traffic made me miss the window to visit my father, so I went back down the following day just so that I could visit him. Nothing has changed, though his spirits seem high.

Poker was pretty much more of the same. I enjoy playing, but remain very much a sucker by Heinlein’s definition. I would play exactly the same game if there was no money on the line, but most of the other guys in the game don’t understand that (and would never operate that way).

In other news, I have been to three gaming sessions in Lake Geneva in seven days, played “San Juan” on Monday, “Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery” on Thursday, and “Lost Woods” and “Search for the Emperor’s Treasure” on Sunday. The gaming was pretty good, and the company was great: Ernie G. was there all three times, Scott F. twice, and Tom W. once, as well as some newer friends. If cons were like this, I would actually enjoy them.

Uncle Hyena