jill of all tirades

Get ready to bust out your old Magic cards, because Magic is now on the Xbox 360!  Yes, I was a nerdy high school kid that played Magic at lunchtime.  I was also in the marching band, so I guess it goes with the territory.  Luckily, I got through that stage; yet I still retain a nostalgic fondness  for playing Magic.  The game is available on the Xbox live marketplace for 800 Microsoft points.  This means that all of the closet nerd can play without having their buddies see them at a card shop.

There are 3 main modes that you can play in the game: campaign, co-op campaign, or challenges.  The campaign mode is the standard 1 on 1 Magic game.  In this mode you can unlock new decks and new cards for those decks (part of the completion achievement).  You start out with the green and the red deck unlocked and from there you get the white, blue, black, green/black, red/green/black, and red/green/white decks.  Each of these decks has between 15 and 17 cards that can be unlocked.  Luckily, the cards are unlocked by simply winning a match, not which computer opponent you play against.  Personally, I used the green deck until I got to the first battle with Tezzeret, then I switched to the green/black deck to finish the campaign.  Tezzeret is the 15^th and 17^th (last) fights in the campaign and he has an awesome deck.  It is a blue/black deck that is full of artifact creatures and you do not get it in the game!  I am hoping that they will release it as DLC sometime soon.

In co-op campaign you and a friend (on the same box) play against 2 computer players.  There is no card or deck unlocking in this mode.  The opponents are very good at using their cards to help each other out, and I was getting my ::cough:: kicked until I got Jack and I both on the green/black deck.  Now it is almost too easy.

The newest innovation of the game is the challenges mode.  In this game, you are given a scenario and you have to figure out how to use the cards in your hand to win the game in one turn.  This teaches you how to use the abilities of cards with others and make them work to your advantage; a much more subtle game that casual players usually get.  Some of these challenges can be downright puzzling, too!  Here is a great site for challenge answers, if you get stuck and frustrated.

I have only a few complaints about the game, and none of them are insurmountable in my mind.

• You do not unlock Tezzeret’s deck after you beat him.
• You cannot modify or make your own decks.  I was told that this was done to make online play more balanced between the amateur and expert Magic players.  I can understand that reasoning, but I still want to make my own decks to play against the computer.
• Sometimes the game freaks out and freezes when you have too many creatures out.  I have had the game freeze 3 times and go extremely slow during the attack-damage phases 2 times.  This is sub optimal programming in my mind.  Hopefully there will be a patch soon to remedy this.
• There are some very immature people playing online.  I have had about half of my opponents leave the game when they realize that I am going to beat them in the next turn or two.  This is bad sportsmanship and very rude.  When playing a ranked match, you should stay until the end so that the person gets the rank up that they deserve.

I think that this is a great game.  It is much better than the old PC version of the game.  Running around looking for battles was not fun, and very buggy.  So far, I have unlocked all cards for the red, green, white, and green/black deck.   I have completed the campaign, challenges, and ¾ of the co-op campaign.  Once I finish unlocking all of the cards available, I plan on playing many online matches.  This game has a very high replay factor, and I do not see it becoming unpopular anytime soon.

For all of the uber-fans out there:

• More avatar pictures
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• Premium themes : red, green, white, blue, black

J. Lohr has two tasting rooms that you can visit; I have been to both.  The primary tasting room is in Paso Robles and the secondary tasting room is in San Jose.  I prefer the San Jose tasting room mainly because it is off the beaten path of wine tasting, which means fewer crowds to contend with.  They proclaim this tasting room as the best of “urban wine country”.  I hope I am not the only one to see humor is that statement!  They have so many wines to taste that you choose 6 and walk away promising to come back and taste all the others next time . . . or the time after.  I am glad that I brought Jack with me, as it allowed me to sample a few beyond my 6 I was allotted.

They have 7 wine series that are currently being produced.  The Cypress Vineyards label has all of the wine aged in stainless steel.  This makes for lighter whites and reds, and lighter on the pocket too.  The J. Lohr Vineyard Series and J. Lohr Estates labels are most of the wines that are being produced there.  The J. Lohr Cuvee Series are the creme de la creme of wines that are being offered.  Painter Bridge wines are the everyday, yet still taste good, wines.  ARIEL are non-alchoholic wines that are good enough to compete with regular wines.  Finally, there is a new series of wines with the common appellation Gesture to differentiate them from the other J. Lohr wines available.  The Gesture wines are also only available at the tasting rooms.  Of the wines that I tasted, my favorites were the 2007 Riverstone Chardonnay, the 2008 Wildflower Valdiguié, and the 2007 Gesture Mourvedre.

2007 Riverstone Chardonnay -  This Chardonnay is another one that goes on my list of favorites.  It is fermented in oak for 9 months rather than stainless steel, as are most of the Chardonnays that I enjoy.  It is crisp without being overly fruity and has enough depth that you would never confuse it with a lighter white wine.  Even though it went through malo-lactic fermentation, it is not buttery at all.

2008 Wildflower Valdiguié – This is a combination of 90.2% Valdiguie, 6.6% Petite Verdot, and 3.2% White Reisling.  I thought that this was a very nice lighter red wine with strong fruit elements.  Blackberries are what come to mind when drinking this wine.  I would like to sit on a southern wrap-around porch and sip this wine as I watch the lightning bugs come out in the evening.

2007 Gesture Mourvedre - As I stated earlier, the Gesture wines are only available through the tasting room currently.  With this bold and complex Mourvedre to offer, I hope that they bring these wines out of the closet and into the public eyes.  With this wine, I got aromas of earth and leather and tasted elements of raspberry and a nice dry yet lingering finish.

I have never read Pride and Prejudice, but I have seen multiple versions of the movie. As a result, I do not know how accurate Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is compared to the original; that hardly matters though. Why would you want accuracy when you are adding zombies to a classic novel?  If you are even reading this review, you must have some appreciation for the absurd, and that is exactly what this book is.  Let me clarify that statement.  I enjoyed this book and read it without stopping the first time through.  I was also not expecting a life changing literary experience from it.

This book focuses on Elizabeth Bennet, who while being the second of the five Bennet daughters is also a skilled warrior when it comes to slaying the zombies.  Actually, regardless of personality, all of the Bennet girls are quite skilled in the arts of slaying monsters.  The zombies are introduced as a plague that has been harassing England for many years, causing many families to move from the countryside to London.  The story then progresses as the original did, with a few zombie encounters scattered here and there.  There are a few changes that I found delightful; the dreadful fate of Mr. Wickham and the zombifying (is that a word?) of one of the side characters, who shall remain nameless here.  Of course there is a happy ending, to do otherwise would be too much of a change from the original.

In summation, I think that this is a great comedic novel for light reading, and airplane novel.  The addition of the zombies keeps with the style of Jane Austen’s original writing and flows smoothly.  The illustrations are not necessary in my mind, but I am sure that some people will enjoy them.  I think that this book would make a great gift to an avid reader that has a good sense of humor, or to someone studying British Lit.

Directly across the street from Live Oak High School (::sigh:: memories) is Guglielmo Winery.  It is located in Morgan Hill, on Main Street to the East of the 101.  If you are tasting in the South Bay, it is a required stop.  This is a great winery with a new remodeled tasting room.  They have reds, whites, and champagne; all in all, something for every palate.  With the wide variety of wines produced, it is an easy winery to revisit for tasting many times. 

There are three labels produced at the winery: Private Reserve, Villa Emile, and Emile’s Table Wine.  The Private Reserve wines are hand crafted with limited release.  The current Guglielmo Private Reserve series includes, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Villa Emile wines are made from grapes grown in the best regions of California wine-making.  The current Villa Emile wines are Chardonnay, White Zinfandel, White Reisling, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.  Emile’s Tables Wines hark back to the founding of the winery in 1925, when the winemakers frequently used a blend of wines.  There is a Red and a White Emile’s Table Wine currently.  Of all the wines that they have, the ones I like best are: Emile’s Premium Red, Villa Emile Merlot, and the Private Reserve Rosatello.

Emilie’s Premium Red – This wine is a Italian-style blend of Zinfandel, Ruby Cabernet, Petite Sirah, Barbera, and Carignane.  This is not a “fancy” wine for you wine snobs out there.  I like this wine because it is a value priced table red that goes with just about anything, including nothing.  It is smooth, easy to drink, and still has an incredible amount of flavor.  I agree with the winery when they say that this is a “zesty table wine with aromas of cherries”.

2006 Villa Emile Merlot – This is my favorite wine of the Guglielmo selection of wines.  It is a bold Merlot with flavors of black cherry and cedar.  It has a strong and lingering finish while still being smooth and gentle on the tannins.  I love to use this wine to make french onion soup; about a cup of wine goes into the soup and the rest is drunk while cooking and eating.

2007 Private Reserve Rosatello – This is an estate bottled wine made from 100% Grignolino Rose grapes that was first released two years ago in celebration of the winery’s 80th anniversary.  I generally do not like to drink a rose wines because they usually taste too fruity and sweet, like a white zinfandel was mislabeled actually.  This wine is much drier while still retaining the strong flavor pear.  There are only a few wineries that make a Grignolino Rose wine in California, so I think that this is a must try even if you cannot make it to the tasting room.  You can order a bottle of it at the Guglielmo Online Store.

As you can see, there are a number of wines to try at Guglielmo Winery when you decide to stop by and visit.  They have a well deserved reputation for making consistently good wines.  They also have an elegant area for weddings or other parties.  So drop in, have a glass, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

(Guglielmo barrel image credited to Fire-Eyes Photography)

If you are a fan of Sid Meier games on the computer, I recommend trying out his console version of Civ (I play the Xbox 360 version).  Civilization Revolution, if you are not familiar with the series, is a turn based strategy game in which you play the leader of a colonizing civilization.  It is your duty to build cities, troops, wonders and city buildings while amassing gold and researching new technology; all in the name of making your “country” the best.  There are multiple civilizations to choose from, with different benefits associated with them.  There are also four different ways to win the game: Domination, Technological, Cultural, and Economic.  This gives some variety to the game-play and allows you to work with each civilization differently depending on their attributes.  I have spent many hours trying to get all of the achievements for this game, and I am still working on it with enjoyment.  Replay factor on this game is high!  For your enjoyment, here is the trailer from IGN.

Pros

• Easy to learn how to play and learn the controls.  This makes the game playable by people who have never played Civ before and/or are not heavy duty gamers.
• Multi-player!  Yes, there is online multi-player.  That is all that needs to be said there.  What would Civ be if you couldn’t conquer your friends?
• The game was scaled down appropriately for the consoles.  On the PC, sometimes you would have to ammas gigantor armies of troops (50+ units) to attack a city.  In the console you rarely have to make more than 10 units attack the same city.  This makes it much easier to navigate with a controller vs. keyboard and mouse.
• DLC is available.  There are new maps to play (some of them free), new wonders, and new ancient artifact thingies that you can discover.
• You can group 3 of the same units into an army.  This gives bonuses to attack and defense while making the troops more manageable.

Cons

• You cannot change the name and colors of your civilization.  I enjoyed making my civ bright pink and calling them the Elephanteers in the PC games; would that option have been too hard to add?
• The Advisers!  They seem to pop up every damn time you turn around to tell you what you already know.  Not only are they annoying, they slow down the load time of turns.  Grrrrrr.
• You cannot choose who or how many enemy civs you have for a specific game.  Sometimes it is fun to have only 3 people on a huge planet or 12 people on a tiny one.

Most of my complaints are things that I am able to work around and deal with because I like the game that much.  Next, I want to see a console version of Alpha Centauri (another Sid Meier game).  I had so much fun playing that game on the PC (Win 95/98).  I think that it would make a good expansion for the Civilization Revolutions game.  You would not need to make a whole new game, just re-skin the current game and add some new civilizations.  I think that the game mechanics could mostly be kept the same.