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Showing posts with label Fun and Games Friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fun and Games Friday. Show all posts

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Fun and Games Friday: Twenty Questions Edition

Most people consider Twenty Questions to be a rather prosaic parlor game, but in our family, it has a long and colorful history.

You see, my father is notorious for coming home on Friday night and beginning the Shabbat meal by daring everyone at the table:

“You’ll never guess who was in shul tonight. Twenty questions…”

And so the game begins.

Inevitably, the subject proves to be an obscure, random person – that nobody, often not even my mother, has ever heard of or has even the remotest chance of ever guessing…

When the Shiputzim kids were born, YZG and I knew that Twenty Questions was a tradition we wanted to incorporate into our own household.

And so we have. With a vengeance.

For Twenty Questions features prominently in TRLEOOB (=the real life equivalent of our blog).

Of course, the older kids have a definite advantage. Not only do they have better analytical and deductive skills than their younger siblings, but they know more people.

Still, even the younger members of the family hold their own.

For instance, a few years ago, the kids were trying to guess who it was that YZG and I had bumped into at a wedding we had attended.

Everyone was asking a series of well-reasoned questions, in order to gradually tease out clues as to the subject’s identity.

Suddenly, ACYSC (=a certain younger Shiputzim child) - who was feeling somewhat left out and wanted to get in on the action - memorably blurted out:

“Did the person die yet?”

Open-mouthed

In short, there’s much to like about Twenty Questions.

After all, it promotes cognitive development and encourages logical thinking.

And more importantly, Twenty Questions is the perfect game to play when checking for nits in one’s offspring’s hair…

Open-mouthed

!שבת שלום ומבורך

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Fun and Games Friday: Guests Edition

There’s nothing like Pesach to get one’s competitive juices flowing.

As I explained last Pesach:

After all, no matter where you turn, you’re sure to hear someone asking:

  • How early did you start your cleaning?
  • How much did you procrastinate before you started your cleaning?
  • How late did your Seder end?
  • How quickly did you get all your Pesach stuff put away after the chag?
  • And so on…

Yet this year, the whole Pesach one-upmanship thing is being raised to an entirely new level here in our neighborhood.

It all started about three or four weeks before Purim (!!), when a series of odd emails began appearing on our local mailing list.

One after the other, people were soon posting requests for empty houses and/or apartments for their Seder guests.

Which was blogably (which may or may not be a real word…) amusing in its own right.

Because seriously??

Did all those people somehow suddenly forget that we live in a country where it goes against our national ethos to make plans that far in advance??

But the funniest part was that once it became clear that the housing demand would likely far exceed the housing supply, people panicked and started hyping their guests.

Our guests have no small children,” one family boasted.

Our guests have no children at all,” a second family bragged.

And then it got personal.

Our guests are mesudarim v’achra’im (neat and responsible),” a third family played the trump card.

[I was really, REALLY hoping that someone would write: "Our guests are irresponsible slobs who will wreck your house about five minutes after they arrive." But, sadly, it was not to be… ;-)]

Now, I have no idea whether or not any of the prospective hosts found housing.

But I can tell you that the Guest Promotional Campaign Competition (that’s the GPCC, for short) apparently continues.

Because even now – just a few days before the Seder - people are still submitting their entries to the mailing list…

Open-mouthed

Are people still looking for housing for the Seder in your area?

!שבת שלום ומבורך

 

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Fun and Games Friday: Modiin Edition

Known for its many malls, its bowling alley, and its manmade “lake”, the beautiful city of Modiin also boasts a large number of awesome playgrounds.

Here are some pictures from a recent visit to Israel’s “city of the future”:

IMG_1650 IMG_1659IMG_1661

As always, feel free to click on the pictures for a closer view.

Meanwhile, Leora shares a picture of another Modiin playground.

!שבת שלום ומבורך

_________

The latest Haveil Havalim is available here. Special thanks to JewishBoston for including my counteracting the meraglim post.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Fun and Games Friday: Points Edition

There’s nothing like Pesach to get you into the competitive spirit.

After all, no matter where you turn, you’re sure to hear someone asking:

  1. How early did you start your cleaning?
  2. How much did you procrastinate before you started your cleaning?
  3. How late did your Seder end?
  4. How quickly did you get all your Pesach stuff put away after the chag?
  5. And so on…

But nothing says competition like a well-played game of… Points.

{notes the readers’ blank stares and hastens to explain}

Points, my friends, is a world-famous virtually-unknown-outside-the-extended-Shiputzim-family, challenging not-overly-exciting game of wits of chance, which pits sibling against sibling and parent against offspring.

For the uninitiated – i.e. those of you who aren’t related to me – here’s a brief lowdown of the game:

The object is to meet as many of your acquaintances as possible during a given outing.

For each person you meet, you get a point - hence, the name – and the winner is the competitor who has the most points at the end of the outing.

Yes, it really IS that simple. :-)

But there are several rules:

  1. In order to get the point, you must actually speak to the acquaintance. Nodding or waving – without so much as a quick “hello” – doesn’t count.
  2. You must have met the acquaintance at least one time before. (Online meetings are acceptable.) In other words, striking up a conversation with a total stranger may be sociable, but it won’t get you any points.
  3. If you and another member of your party bump into someone whom you both know, the first one to speak to the acquaintance gets the point.

Needless to say, Points can be played anytime and anywhere, but to maximize your points, check out Yerushalayim – especially the Old City - during Chol Hamo’ed.

It’s like, well, a mecca (pardon the expression :-)) for Points players…

smile_teeth

!שבת שלום ומבורך

 

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Fun and Games Friday: Othello edition

A few months ago, the entire Shiputzim family was into Othello.

But before you get all impressed by our literary and cultural sophistication, I should explain that I’m referring to the classic two-person board game - NOT the famous Shakespearean tragedy.

You see, Othello (aka Reversi) was the subject of MAG’s recent English term paper, and as a result of his research, some of us here in TRLEOOB* picked up a few new tricks –including the highly effective so-called “wall strategy”. (Details available upon request.)

Meanwhile, others used this opportunity to produce a number of intricate designs:

IMG_0433 (2) A flowery approach to the game

Even ACGAC** got caught up in the Othello craze.

Specifically, ACGAC enjoys a little-known variation of the game called “Switching Colors”.

The basic rules are as follows:

  • ACGAC’s opponent plays to the best of his/her ability.
  • Whenever ACGAC feels that the situation warrants such a move, the two players switch colors.
  • If necessary, the players can switch colors several times during the same game.
  • ACGAC always wins. (Surprise, surprise…)

This reminds me of the way occasional blogger YCT would carefully - and quite literally - stack the deck when playing every parent's worst nightmare: the mind-numbingly boring Candy Land.

He thus ensured that his daughter always won, but only after an exciting game with several nail-biting upsets. (He would then leave the deck unshuffled for the next time.)

What approach do you take when playing board games with younger children? Do you let them win? Do you give them some sort of handicap? Or do you believe in tough love - as in, “This is the real world. Deal with it! So what if you’re only two years old…”

smile_teeth

שבת שלום ומבורך!

________

*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog

**ACGAC=a certain gan-age child of my acquaintance

Friday, November 6, 2009

Fun and Games Friday: True confession edition

No one reads this blog, right?

Good.

Because otherwise, I’d be uncomfortable admitting that… I’ve developed quite the KenKen habit.

Known as “Sudoku on steroids”, KenKen – unlike the original – is all about arithmetic. Essentially, it’s one big math problem.

It’s fun, challenging, and – as I noted above – highly addictive.

And now that I’ve shared this little secret, it’s your turn: What’s your favorite online vice (other than blogging, of course)?

Come on, don’t be shy.

After all, there’s no one here but you and me…

smile_teeth

!שבת שלום ומבורך

Friday, July 31, 2009

Fun and Games Friday: Presidential edition

It was like hitting the blog fodder jackpot.

It all began innocently enough. The Shiputzim daughters were playing a card game, and mildly curious, I asked what it was called.

“President,” one of the girls volunteered.

“President?” I repeated, never having heard of such a game.

“Yes,” came the confirmation.

My interest was piqued. This definitely had blogging potential.

“What’s it called in Hebrew? Prrrreh-zeedent?” I asked hopefully.

My daughters nodded.

Bingo!

But the best was yet to come.

The girls began to explain the rules, and although most of the details are well beyond the scope of this post, there are three elements which specifically appealed to the blogger in me:

1) When a player wants to pass, s/he says “pahss.”

2) When one puts down four cards from the same suit, it’s knows as “Kodak” (pronounced “koe-dahk”).

3) And then there’s the following, which, IMHO, is truly awesome:

  • The winner is the “president” (or, rather, the “prrrreh-zeedent”) – hence the game’s name.
  • The loser is called “zevel” (literally, garbage).
  • If there are a total of three players, the one who comes in second place is usually referred to as the “middle” (pronounced “mee-dell”). In an alternate version of the game, this player is called “nootrali” – i.e. “neutral”. (Mah?! Zeh gam milah b’Anglit?!)
  • If there are five players, the second place winner is the “vice president” (pronounced “viiiice prrrreh-zeedent”), and the one who comes in second to last is known as – are you ready? - “viiiice zevel” (i.e. “vice garbage”).

I kid you not.

So, thank you, Mr. or Ms. Game Originator, from the bottom of my blogging heart. You really, really, REALLY made my day…

smile_teeth

!שבת שלום ומבורך

Friday, July 10, 2009

Fun and Games Friday: Extreme Boggle edition

Contrary to popular belief, the Shiputzim family likes to live on the edge. {nods earnestly} Yes. We do. {ignores snickers and snide remarks}

Don’t believe me?

Well, how else can you explain the fact that when we play Boggle, we use an ancient, battered dictionary from the late 1940’s??

I rest my case.

You see, according to house rules, players don’t get points for words that aren’t listed in this dictionary. And the words have to be included in the main section - rather than the so-called “New Words section”.

As the editors explain:

“The New Words section… contains… those new terms that have come into common usage since the end of World War II… each term therein suspended on probation until usage determines whether it should be eliminated or be admitted into the main body.”

Yet, this dictionary is so old and outdated that the following examples are considered to be “new terms” which are “suspended on probation”:

  • facsimile transmission
  • transistor
  • fusion
  • fission
  • brunch
  • geriatrics
  • suburbia
  • satellite
  • racism
  • parameter
  • brainwashing
  • nuclear
  • additive

And, so, dear readers, the next time you’re in the mood to take a few risks, please feel free to drop by for an exciting and dangerous game of Extreme Boggle…

smile_teeth

!שבת שלום ומבורך

Friday, June 5, 2009

Fun and Games Friday: You be the judge edition

In the spirit of last year’s widely-popular Theory of the Gilads, I now present a new challenge for your pre-Shabbat enjoyment:

At Ariel (a youth movement) on Shabbat, a certain Shiputzim child frequently plays a game called “Ein Zahp”.

We here in TRLEOOB (I’m going to assume that you know what this means by now) have been wondering about the name’s etymology and have narrowed it down to three possibilities:

1) The name comes from the Hebrew אין זאפ – i.e. “no zahp”. (Admittedly, zahp isn’t a word, but that’s just a minor detail…)

2) The name is a Hebrew corruption of the words, “ends up”.

3) The name is a Hebrew corruption of the phrase, “hands up”.

Which answer is correct?

Please show your work…

smile_teeth

!שבת שלום ומבורך

Friday, March 13, 2009

Fun & Games Friday: Snowball fight edition

As some of you know, ASG (aka “the CTO,” or “the Chief Technical Officer of the blog”) is double-majoring in physics and computers. (Yes, Israeli high school students have to choose a major or concentration – i.e., a מגמה - megamah, for the Hebraically-oriented among you.)

He attends the physics classes, but his yeshiva gave him permission to do all the computer courses independently.

In any event, he recently developed a snowball fight game using C#.

Here’s a screen shot of the game:

Snowball Fight Game screenshot

ASG wrote the following:

Snowball Fight Game Directions

  • Object: The object of the Snowball Fight Game is to hit your opponent three times with snowballs.
  • Game play: In this game, you play against the computer. Each player starts with three snowballs and three lives. If you run out of snowballs, you won’t be able to continue throwing until you make another snowball. When a player is hit, s/he loses some health.
  • On your turn: During your turn, you can either make a snowball, throw a snowball, move closer to your opponent, or back away. The closer you are, the greater chance you have of hitting your opponent.

Now that you’ve read the directions, you can click on the following icon to download and play ASG’s Snowball Fight Game*:

Way to go, ASG!

Shabbat Shalom to all!

______________

* Note: If you get the following error message - "The application failed to initialize properly" - you’ll need to install the .Net Framework from here.