Oh, and we went rafting on the White Salmon last weekend. We didn't flip and swim at the last waterfall, but this group did:

After missing a trip to lake in 2009, we returned for a full week in early August. I posted a full set of photos on Flickr - still to come are some portraits I did of the boys. Activities enjoyed this year included:

Fearless Wake-boarding

Aggressive Water-skiing

Sailing the Flying Dutchman

Battle Tubing

Hanging out with Little Kids

Gully Hiking

Casual Portraiture

Wacky High Dynamic Range Photography

Dragging Behind a Boat Standing on a Chair Placed on a Wooden Disk

(who doesn't do this, right?)

Three years ago I purchased my first Apple computer, a MacBook Pro. This computer is still my primary work computer and is holding up very well. I’ve had to replace the hard drive and battery under AppleCare, and upgraded to 3GB RAM about 18 months ago.

At home I have an iMac that I purchased about 2 years ago. It has an attached Drobo with nearly 3 TB capacity that holds music, video, and photography media content.

I’m still very happy living in a Mac world and thought I’d share the tools that have stuck around and become part of my everyday workflow.

Media

• Lightroom 3 - This is my workhorse for photography workflow and image editing. 98% of the photo work that I do is in this tool, and with the improved integration with Photoshop for HDR and pano processing even the times I go into Photoshop feel like I’m using an extension of Lightroom. I use several of Jeffrey Friedl’s plugins but find most of what I need built directly into the product.
• Photoshop CS5 - Julie has been the heavier user of Photoshop over the past 6 months, mostly to do design and layout work for school fundraising projects. The improved HDR and panorama processing tools have made several plugins I’ve purchased in the past obsolete.
• iMovie - This remains my mainstay for video processing though I’m getting ready to kick it to the curb. My main issue is performance and range of video format support. Most of my iMovie work is for football scouting and I tend to get video from a range of cameras. I also am usually under a time crunch to finish the work on Sunday. Maybe the issues are more with my iMac than iMovie, but I’m eager to try some different options to see if I can improve my workflow.

Office Apps

I purchased iWork not long after it came out and have been mostly unimpressed. Numbers in particular lags far behind Excel, especially for someone who does a lot of work with groupings and pivot tables. Keynote is the best of the iWork apps and I find it very useful for making animated storyboards for videos.

I think that Microsoft Office is still the best office suite for the Mac. It isn’t perfect, but I’m able to co-exist in my workplace with an all-Windows world and maintain compatibility. I’m excited for the next release and to have Outlook available on the Mac.

Productivity

• Omnifocus - Nearly all of my GTD system lives in Omnifocus. I’ve been an early user since their beta and the app has only improved over the years. I also use their iPhone app. This is probably my most used application outside of Safari.
• Notational Velocity, TextMate, SimpleNote, MultiMarkdown - While I was an early adopter of the revamped Evernote on the Mac, I continued to grow frustrated with the Windows version stability and the closed nature of Evernote’s storage system. I think I heard Merlin Mann talk about Notational Velocity and MultiMarkdown on MacBreak Weekly, explored the tool, wired things up with SimpleNote and DropBox, and migrated my notes from Evernote to plain text. This set of tools has dramatically changed how I write and work. I tend to use TextMate more than Notational Velocity for writing, but the lightweight nature of Notational Velocity make it great for quick search and jotting down ideas.

Utilities

• LaunchBar - Switched to this from QuickSilver about a year ago and haven’t looked back. Very stable, great power user features, and I find myself learning new ways to use it every month.
• Hazel - Until I started using Hazel I had no idea how much time I spent shuffling files around, moving downloaded items to trash, etc. Just started using this 3 months ago and continue to find creative uses for it.
• TextExpander - I don’t use this as well as I should, but it is a great tool and I’m finding some good synergy with MultiMarkdown workflow (inserting links from the clipboard, for example).
• 1Password - This tool let’s me use robust unique passwords for sites and integrates very well with DropBox.
• DropBox - I dropped FolderShare (or whatever Microsoft calls it now) about 12 months ago in favor of DropBox. Amazingly robust tool and I’ve converted many family members and friends over to its powerful ways.

Jacob opted out of baseball this spring, which makes me a bit sad but also a bit proud - he's recognizing the value of (relative) downtime and grew weary of the high level of pressure associated with baseball. He also finds it a bit boring. His technology teacher at high school, whom he's been working with for 3 years and is close friend, chatted up track and field as a lower key option for him and a way to stay in shape as he enters summer football season.

He had so much fun this season exploring different events and learning where his strengths were. He ran the individual 100m, 4x100m relay, and 400m as well as participating in high jump and javelin. Javelin appears to be his thing, and he even qualified to participate at the varsity level for a few meets which is a great accomplishment for a freshman.

A week ago the Northwest Oregon Conference held their novice / JV meet where Jacob competed in the 4x100, high jump, and javelin. Jacob's relay team took third overall, he finished 4th in javelin (though felt that he should have won had he come even close to his PR), and 2nd overall in high jump setting a PR of 5'3".

Next up for him is summer basketball and summer football (camps and training).

We are nearing the end of basketball season for both boys (young men?). They've both progressed very well this year, and I've been able to spend a lot of time shooting games with various lenses (thanks to Pro Photo Supply rentals).

Matthew is playing on the Sherwood 7th grade classic A team in the most-competitive Three Rivers 3A division. They are seeing some very tough competition this year, and Matthew at 6' tall is finding himself looking up to other players in about half of their games. His team has several tall post players which has allowed him to play at least three different positions fairly regularly and helped further his development. The team isn't having quite the success they had last year, though they have won two tournaments and finished as runners-up in two others.

Jacob is enjoying his first year of high school (freshman) basketball and has truly surprised us with his development. He is regularly scoring in double digits and garnering similar numbers of rebounds. I think I've seen him take one shot outside of 8 feet all season, so everything is coming inside the paint and much of it through hard work on the offensive boards. He's developed a soft touch with a jump hook as well.

Unfortunately Jacob suffered a mild concussion after taking an elbow to the jaw last Friday night so he'll be out for this week at a minimum, and he may miss the rest of the season. This doesn't diminish the great progress he's made this year and I know he'll be back to play again next year.

Gaming, but obviously not blogging. Let's talk about a few recent sessions.

Matthew and I dug out Duel of Ages with the first two expansions and it was good. The components could be nicer, the cardboard tiles are warping in their old age, but the game was enjoyable though not terribly interactive. I think we fought against each other 2 or 3 times. Still, the time limit approach to the game keeps it bound and we think we'll keep this one around.

One of my un-played games was Risk 2210AD, a highly regarded Risk variant set in the future (oh, 200 years or so I guess). I can see why folks like it - similar to the Lord of the Rings Risk it is time-bound and keeps everyone moving. The special technology cards add a nice twist as does the moon, though only Matthew and I spent any time there. I think if we want to play Risk we're more likely to pull out Lord of the Rings.

Over the holidays we did a bit of family gaming and broke the shrink-wrap off of Buy Low Sell High. Classic but in my opinion underwhelming Knizia here. Maybe because I finished dead last?

Ken and Brandon came over for day of gaming and we enjoyed the cooperative game Red November and our first-ever play of Pacific Typhoon. Red November is a gnome-oriented (!) submarine survival game. There isn't much depth there but we had a good time, though I'm not I like the "bail out" option a gnome can take towards the end - seems to break the team spirit and doesn't feel as right as a the traitor in Shadows Over Camelot.

Pacific Typhoon is the redone, Pacific theater version of Atlantic Storm, a game I've never played. We all enjoyed it and I'd like to explore it some more to see if there's a durable game in there.

JD, Ken and tried out Hansa Teutonica, the only game I purchased at BGG.CON. I see why people are raving about this game - many ways to score points, quick turns, the game flows very well. Be warned though that this is a dry, mostly themeless classic Euro game. Writing this does make me want to pull this out again for another play, though.

A couple of weekends ago I ventured up to the GameStorm game day in Vancouver WA for some 18xx action. Chris Shaffer was kind enough to teach two full groups how to play the recent Mayfair games new look at 1853. Did I mention that my game group has gone a bit 18xx crazy lately? They have, and so have Jacob and I. In fact I might try to talk both boys into some 2038 action this weekend.

1853 is a bit wacky but very enjoyable. It has a very unique (to me) opening auction technique with sealed bids that determine the seating order (and initial priority deal). Folks overbid by much early on and we did a restart, but in the restart I was essentially forced to start a minor company. I had fun operating in the south and working my line up but was aided greatly when Chris Shaffer started building his hybrid line down south to join me. This opened up my minor to some big runs, and I raided and dumped the last major company to get some nice trains. The wackiest parts of 1853 (relative to other 18xx) are that dumping shares doesn't bring down the stock price, and you aren't obligated to hold onto a company if you are the director and sole shareholder. I managed a win by a small margin. It was great to play with some old friends and I think I'd like to add this one to my collection. The bits are very pretty but I wouldn't say the game was designed for function - some issues with colors and differentiation.

I'm only about a month late on this wrap-up. Maybe two.

Though my trip to the convention was shortened by a day and a half due to work commitments, I had a great time and experienced a great mix of the old and new (with more emphasis on the old this time around). Again, I did most of my gaming with good friend Jim Ginn.

Great Stuff

We the People - This is becoming an annual tradition for Jim and me and arguably has been the highlight for the past two years. This is just a great, simple card driven game that seems extremely well balanced. We both can't wait for Washington's War to come out next year. This time I played the American colonies and emerged victorious, partly due to some amazing card draws early in the game. Jim did a valiant job of trying to keep up, and even with that advantage I had some hard choices in the final turn to ensure my victory.

Havana - This is the card game derived from Cuba and I played twice. More expensive than it should be, this is still a fun little game with an innovative action selection and sequencing mechanism.

18AL - We played about 1/2 of a game on Sunday morning with the amazing graphic re-design by XYZ. This was Hamzy's first time playing 18xx and I think he enjoyed it enough to get the bug.

FITS - Brilliant Knizia design that feels like Tetris combined with Take it Easy. I love the different phases in the game that present unique ways to score. Got this one for Julie for a Christmas gift and she enjoys it as well.

Steam - My first time playing the new Mayfair / Wallace version of the classic Age of Steam. We played with the advanced rules and I think the streamlining choices were appropriate.

The Pillars of the Earth - Hadn't played this in two years and really enjoyed this play. A game that probably registers negatively with me because my first two plays were with the German cards and we would fumble through with translations, this is better than I have given it credit for.

Roll Through the Ages - I still wonder why I don't own this game - great quick fun with surprising depth for (just) a dice game.

Just Good Stuff

Power Struggle - This new Essen release was just OK for me. I think it felt too much like other Euros I've played and it didn't grab me. The mechanics seem solid though.

Homesteaders - I'm certain I need to give this another try and the comparisons to Lehmann's Phoenicia are accurate I think.

Canal Mania - Love the game, hated this instance of playing. We had three competent players and one, er, incompetent player. Every freaking turn he would ask again what his possible actions were and even by the end of the game I think he still didn't understand the basics.

Roma II - I love Roma but I'm not sure I see enough here to warrant a purchase. It felt like a redoing of the same game with some different cards and powers, though the extra action possibility seems like a nice addition.

My niece Meaghan and her husband Nick are in town for the weekend, up from Monterey CA where they are both attending the Defense Language Institute for a series of intense Russian language courses. We had intended to spend a few days out at the coast but decided instead to hang around Portland and explore the city with them. We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do on Friday (anything but shopping, right?) when Julie saw a timely Oregonian article on pub crawling in Portland with nod to bar games that even Jacob and Matthew might be able to play. What better way to give some guests a feel for Portland?

We started a Blitz Ladd in SE, a great sports bar that made me wish we had something similar out in the burbs in Sherwood. Unfortunately the shuffleboard is off-limits to minors but that didn't stop the adults from playing while Jacob and Matthew looked on. Make sure you order the tatchos (tater tot nachos) if you go there. The scottish ale was nice too.

Next up was the Green Dragon, a bar I'd heard about many times and was happy to finally visit. The shuffleboard table is in the main area so playable by the kids, but unfortunately it was in use the whole time. Fortunately there were three pinball machines and a copy of Apples to Apples to rescue us. The Abbot Ale on nitro tap was superb, and Meaghan's hefe was quite tasty as well.

We had the East Burn tap room on the itinerary next, but unfortunately only the restaurant portion was open with very little excitement at hand. Matthew did wish we could spend some time sitting in the hanging wicker chairs. Maybe a future trip is in store.

It was time to cater to the kids (young and old) and stay away from the beer for a bit, so we wandered over to Ground Kontrol across the river. This is a classic game arcade where you can actually play games with a single quarter and relive teen years spent playing Tron, Galaga, and Ms. Pac Man.

We had a blast there and burned through many quarters. I can only imagine what it is like there after 5pm when they start serving alcohol.

Our final stop of the day was at the Lucky Labrador Beer Hall in NW. Here we had some breadsticks and pizza, enjoyed some fine brews, and played a tense 3-on-3 game of cricket. The bar was surprisingly quiet for a Friday evening, I suspect because folks were out shopping or recovering from shopping. This made it even easier and more enjoyable for a family of six to camp out and play.

I've been busy lately.

About one month ago I joined WebMD Health Services as their new VP of Technology. I'm responsible for product development, customer integration, and hosting operations for the private portal business for employers, health plans, and providers. I have an amazing team to work with and great support from the executive management team. We are running fast with no signs of slowing down soon, so there may be limited posting here for a while. Football season is wrapping up today (check out my latest post over on A Football Coach in Sherwood) so hopefully some evenings and weekends will start opening up again for periodic gaming.

My good friend Brian emailed me about a month ago asking about Dungeons and Dragons. His son John started expressing interest in learning the game and Brian wanted some tips and suggestions. Brian had played only once during college 20-25 years ago, and while 4E D&D is relatively easy to learn I think it can be a tough game to bootstrap without a dedicated teacher. I proposed that they come out to Sherwood to join us in a game of Descent. Not quite D&D but a great opportunity to get a feel for this style of game. I also felt this was a game they could pick up on their own and play with 1 or 2 of John's friends.

Jacob and Matthew joined us, and we played the intro scenario for what seems like the fourth or fifth time. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever played anything but the first scenario. This is a cakewalk for the heroes but Jacob still managed to die twice, adding some fun to the session. John absolutely loved the concept of adding skills to his character, even going back to town to spend 1,000 coins on a new skill card. This is a good sign he'll be a big fan of deeper RPGs.