Some Things to Consider

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is one of my favourite films, and one of a select few movies I like to call "perfect." By that I mean I can find no flaws in performance, editing, sound, story, or any of the other qualities that create a masterpiece. 

The Thing needs no sequel. Therefore, I have concocted a list of possible titles for said unnecessary sequel: 

Things 2 Come
That Thing Is You 2
Some Enchanted Eve Thing
Kill the Right Thing
2 Things I H8 About U
Needless Things
People, Places, and Things

Head Thing

Ewwwwwww but I love how the mouth and eyestalks came out. 
 

Some Thing from the 80s

I'm pretty happy with this Thing. Fans of John Carpenter or 1980s science fiction or horror films will recognize this monstrosity. 
 

All Aboard the Coke Train

 

The 28mm Thing from Another World

Because The Thing from Another World was shot in black and white, I don't know what the titular alien might have looked like in colour I tried to imagine what the costume designers of that time might have done, and so I settled on a metallic sheen for his spacesuit, green skin, and purple hair. 

Gaming & Guinness XIV Day 3

Only a select few will successfully ABANDON PLANET to survive the destruction of their homeworld.

I was not one of the few.

Then, a trip to Chez Pierre as our annual "get-out-of-the-house" outing...no, not really. I just had Pete take this shot of me in the parking lot to tease Sylvia. In truth, we walked next door to GTFO for a competitive escape room experience.

Mike P, Pete, Mike T, and Jeff successfully escaped Europa. I did not, nor did Rob or Steve or Scott.

The guys did well though, finishing over 16 minutes before the deadline.

Then it was on to Captain Sonar, which Steve artfully describes as "multi-player Battleship." Except with submarines. You have to listen to the other team carefully in this game, or you'll be completely lost.

Eight players, four roles (Captain, First Officer, Engineer, Navigator), two submarines hell-bent on sinking each other.

This was shot before play actually started. Otherwise, seeing both sides of the screen is strictly prohibited.

In the end, Team Scott, Rob, Earl and Steve triumphed over team Mike, Mike, Pete and Jeff. But it was a close thing.

Once more, Jeff prepared his delicious Maui ribs, accompanied by Island Mike's succulent potatoes.

On to that fine game of paranoiac terror, The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31.

"I swear I'm not the Thing!"

As it turns out, there were three Things: me, Rob, and Scott. The humans managed to escape to the helicopter and correctly elected to leave me and Rob behind, but also abandoned poor Pete, who turned out to be human, and Scott, who turned out to be a Thing. And thus, the fate of humanity was decided...

Friday night is a good night for Rock Band, so that's how we concluded Day 3. 

Gaming & Guinness XIII: Day Two

Thursday morning began with a round of Bang! the Dice Game, in which a group of good guys and bad guys attempt to shoot each other down, except no one knows which team they're on.

I was Black Jack--an outlaw, this time around. But the sheriff prevailed.

Next up was the first marquee game of the event, Wits & Wagers. We started Wits & Wagers at G&G X, and each year since, a different member of the group has come up with the questions and served as manager of the game. This time around, Rob presented the questions. He did such a good job that I only snapped a couple of photos of the game. Here, Steve, Scott, and Mike prepare.

Up next was Fortune & Glory, now with painted miniatures! I spent the better part of a year painting each of the two dozen or so 28mm figures, and while they're not great, they're better than unpainted! I find painted minis really help with immersion.

Fortune & Glory is a 1930s pulp adventure game with a really nifty cliffhanger mechanic, but it suffers from a badly organized rulebook. Luckily, Steve found a fan-created rulebook on Board Game Geek; we used that in a playtest a couple of months before G&G, and we found that it really improved the game's pace. Poor Pete and Jeff still found up stuck in a jungle for four or five rounds though, much to Jeff's frustration and our amusement.

Paranoia ruled at our next marquee game, new to G&G: The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31. Based on the John Carpenter's brilliant 1982 film, The Thing casts players as the characters of the movie...but one of them is actually The Thing, and he's out to infect the other players before they can escape on the helicopter. The Thing won, dooming humanity.

Oh great, more miniatures to paint...

"I'm going to be stuck in the jungle this entire game, aren't I?" 

Saturday Night Thing

Laws 'n Things

Back in the 70s I was an avid collector of Marvel Two-in-One, the team-up book that paired the Fantastic Four's The Thing with other Marvel superheroes. In this issue Thing teams up with Matt Murdock, blind criminal defence lawyer (and also Daredevil). Jailed for causing tremendous property damage, Thing is at first resigned to his fate, prepared to wait in jail to stand trial despite his ability to break out at any moment...that is, until Matt lets some information slip suggesting Thing was framed. With that all bets are off and Thing uses his super-strength to bust out of prison.

I love Matt's rationalizations. "Technically, Ben is escaping. But he's also innocent - even if it hasn't been proven in a court of law." I imagine failing to alert the authorities about an escape in progress would probably get any lawyer disbarred, even one who represents superheroes.