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Guide to Wunderland
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While putting on a white cleanroom
underglove, I humorously imagine Mushrooms Demystified's identification
key for the some of the Amanita group (something like,
'pleasant taste followed by unpleasant death within two weeks
...... Amanita Virosa').
balter (ball'-tur) v.t.
1: to tangle 2: to walk on clumsily v.i. 1: to become
tangled 2: to dance clumsily
- The Man Who Wasn't There :)
The antithesis
of Sam Spade is a barber
who doesn't say much.
 Connections
Zany British historian James Burke takes us on a journey around
the world and through 12,000 years of human history, as he examines
the invention of 8 everyday devices (the telephone, the computer,
the television, plastics, etc) by studying the chains of connected
historical events that eventually lead to those inventions. Burke
not only makes history come alive in this 10 episode series,
he also provides insight into the fundamental nature of change,
and even challenges you to think anew about all the manufactured
stuff we surround ourselves with, and now take totally for granted.
Could you survive if they were all suddenly taken away from us?
James Burke has done a number of similar series, but the original
set of lessons, made in the late seventies, is the most compelling.
 
The Condiment
Packet Museum
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- "Chancing across Wunderland is like discovering a pocket
of hippies that somehow have managed to fight off the cynicism
of the past few decades and stay true to their ideals. This rich
subculture is one of the things that makes Icehouse such an appealing
game system." -- Ron Hale-Evans, in an article
on Game
Systems posted to TheGamesJournal.com
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Arriving Late at Invisible
Milestones |
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For months now we've been toiling away on two major projects
in particular: Playing with Pyramids, the new book of
12 Icehouse games, and the new software system we've been calling
the Wunderlist, which will provide front-to-back functionality
for our online shopping center, doing everything from generating
the shopping cart pages to maintaining online inventory records
and updating them as orders are received and shipped.
As I've noted before, both
of these projects are disappointingly behind schedule; both were
supposed to be done by now. Otherwise however, both projects
are going extremely well. This week we finally completed the
last of the elements we've been writing and creating for the
book, and yesterday we mailed out copies of the current manuscript
to a dozen proof-readers and playtesters, who'll be checking
it over for us before it goes off to the actual book printers.
And let me tell you, it is looking GREAT. I'm really looking
forward to releasing it!
Meanwhile, the Wunderlist is also reaching milestones that
are invisible to the outside observer. We've got the new website
up and running on our in-house network, and take my word for
it, this too is looking really great. Dale has been putting in
a lot of time tailoring and integrating the work VanSam has been
doing for us, and while there's still a lot to finish up before
it'll be ready to launch, the new sites are coming along splendidly.
And while it's definitely a drag that the busy holiday shopping
season is now underway and we still don't have the automated
order processing system in place that we still hope to have running
by the end of the year, we nevertheless have to be happy that
a) sales have really started rolling in, and b) we did at least
succeed in outsourcing the packing and shipment of orders prior
to now. Still, it sucks being late, since instead of having this
time to work on promoting sales, Kristin is instead having to
spend a lot of her time continuing to process orders herself.
Also, with the new shopping cart we're working to add a couple
of new "stores" to our shopping center: GoodSchaufenster.com,
specializing in really great games that aren't made by "dreamer"
companies, and the Random Emporium, where we can showcase and
sell just about anything else we might decide to add to our online
shopping experience. (We'll also be adding a boutique called
the Dangling Carrot, but that will only be open to the Mad Lab
Rabbits.)
Since we haven't even finished building the framework yet,
we certainly haven't had time to do much in the way of populating
these new stores; when they open, they'll have just a few starter
items each.
But there's one game we've been wanting to start selling so
badly that we went ahead and made it available through our old
shopping cart: It's Klunker, the game we prefer to call Schaufenster,
also known as the Most Popular Game at Wunderland Not Made By
Us. It's the game we like so much we named our new eStore after
it (sort of). Check out Gina's great review
if you aren't already convinced to buy it by now.
And come back again soon to see these invisible projects when
they materialize!
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 Have
you played any games today? |
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"Best is the enemy of Good."
-- A saying I adopted from Jay Costenbader back when I was at
TSI, which struck my sister-in-law Ruth's fancy during her recent
visit to town |
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Is there a candy bar that features chocolate,
caramel, and almonds? Settle for peanuts instead and you've got
a Snickers bar; or cover pecans with chocolate and caramel and
you get one of my favorite treats, Fannie May brand Pixies (they're
even better than Turtles). However, the only way I know of to
enjoy the unique blend of chocolate with caramel and almonds
is to unwrap both a Rolo and an almond Hershey's Kiss, and pop
'em into your mouth at the same time. |
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"There was a full lunar eclipse that evening,
and our games were constantly being interrupted as people went
trudging out into the snow to watch its progress. In a scene
which will be forever etched in my memory, John called out in
frustration to a group of players who were heading for the door
yet again: 'The students are not allowed to leave the classroom!'
'But Master,' replied Andy as he shuffled out with the rest,
'there is a demon eating the moon!'" --
Kory's Design
History of Zendo |
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